Open Writing

It is widely believed when New Zealand gave the vote to women in 1893 it was the first country in the world to do so. The truth of the matter is New Zealand was the first country where an orchestrated campaign for women’s suffrage was successful. Women in Pitcairn Island, the American states of Wyoming and Utah and the Isle of Man (if they owned property) were able to vote long before those in New Zealand.

Whereas New Zealand women gained the vote relatively quickly, it took over half a century of bitter struggling before their British sisters were granted even partial suffrage. Along with women in the Netherlands, and Poland, British women had to wait until after the 1st World War to be granted universal suffrage. Women in many countries that we today regard as enlightened, such as France, Japan and Italy, were denied the vote until after the 2nd World War. Swiss women had to wait until 1977 to be granted this basic right.

It is probable that the short period of time it took New Zealand women to gain the vote was assisted by the role they played in colonizing the country. Most worked beside men in establishing homes, farms and livelihoods. Few women in early New Zealand had servants and in those households which did, servant and mistress worked alongside one another. Colonial women were never given the opportunity to play the role of a helpless female in need of the protection of a man.
Unlike the British suffragettes struggle, the New Zealand campaign for female franchise was strongly linked to the temperance movement, so a general concern at the time about the socially damaging effects of alcohol may well have helped their cause.

Furthermore, by 19th century world standards New Zealand women were well educated. As early as 1890, 76 per cent of European women and many Maori women were literate.
The relatively short period of time it took New Zealand women to become enfranchised was not indicative of further progress. It took another 32 years (1919) before they were granted the right to stand as candidates in general elections and further 14 years after that (1933) before Elizabeth McCombs became the first woman to be voted into parliament. By this time, countries which had lagged behind New Zealand at the start of the suffrage movement had streaked passed New Zealand. Britain had already elected 15 women MPs and America had elected its first congresswoman by 1916.

Despite proving they had the ability to run a successful political campaign the presence of women in the House of Representatives was not taken seriously. They were continually denied portfolios with any clout and were assigned those concerned women, children and social issues. New Zealand was kept waiting until 1947 to see a woman appointed as a cabinet minister when Mabel Howard was appointed Minister of Health. Her appointment was followed two years later by that of Hilda Ross who was allotted the portfolio of Minister of Women and Children.

Another 23 years passed before another woman was given a place in cabinet, then a further 12 before a woman was given a portfolio traditionally held by a man.
The first New Zealand female cabinet minister was not appointed until 1947.
It has been argued, many of the women who were successful in gaining a parliamentary seat before 1980 did so on the coat-tails of a male family member. If one examines the backgrounds of these women, it can be seen this is blatantly untrue; they were all highly able prominent women well before they became part of the government. When Elizabeth McCombs won her dead husband’s Lyttleton seat on a by- election she was already a Christchurch city councillor of long standing. Labour’s, Iriaka Ratana became the first Maori woman in parliament when she succeeded her dead husband Matiu in the Western Maori seat, but she had been groomed for political life since her youth and sought selection against the wishes of her party. Whetu Tirakatene-Sullivan, the first Maori woman to gain a portfolio, became the member for the Southern Maori seat on her father’s death, but she was a university graduate with a strong political background. The father of Mabel Howard the first woman to gain a cabinet post was also a member of parliament, but she had gained a prominent place in the trade union movement long before she entered national politics.

Furthermore, male connections did not help other women with political aspirations. Elizabeth Knox Gilmer was not able to win an election despite her father being Richard John Seddon, the Prime minister.

Today New Zealand is a country in which positions of power are dominated by women. The Governor General, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Judge, and the CEOs of many of the major companies are all female. Until recently, so were the Leader of the Opposition and the Attorney General.

The leaders of minor political parties such as the Greens and the Maori Party are women, as are the Director General of Health and the most highly paid Media personalities.
Almost 30 per cent of the members of the New Zealand Parliament are women and the country has the highest level in the world for women’s representation in national politics.

The first woman Prime Minister of New Zealand was Jenny Shipley who gained power in 1998 as a result of a leadership coup within the National party. National was voted into opposition at the general election held 15 months later.

The current Prime Minister Helen Clark was the first female to be elected to the office. A former university lecturer, she took her seat as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in 1981, working her way to the top job in 1999.

An astute politician, she has survived so much scandal and unpopular legislation she has been labelled the ‘Teflon lady’ as nothing sticks to her.
On the 17 September New Zealand goes to the polls. If Helen Clark is elected to serve a further term as Prime Minister, she will become not only New Zealand’s longest serving female member of parliament, but also the leader of first Labour government to be elected to serve a third term.

Current demographic statistics show New Zealand has a marked deficit of men in the 30 plus age group. This together with there being more females than males graduating from university and Law, Medicine and Accountancy becoming female dominated professions, has led to the prediction that within the next decade women will outnumber men in positions of importance