Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to pay tribute to Victoria's first female Premier, and Labor icon, Joan Kirner. Sadly, Joan passed away on Monday, 1 June after a long and brave battle with cancer. Joan Kirner has been properly remembered for her passionate advocacy for education reform, for her trailblazing role for women in politics through the founding of Emily's List and for her strength, determination and humour. In all these attributes, she inspired people throughout Victoria and, indeed, Australia. There is great affection for Joan Kirner in Victoria, and in Melbourne's west, Mrs Kirner was a formidable presence. She was a proud champion of the western suburbs of Melbourne. She was born in Essendon and, although she spent many years in Melbourne's outer eastern suburbs, she came back to the west when she commenced her parliamentary career. Joan was first elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1982 as the member for Melbourne West Province and later moved to the Legislative Assembly as the member for Williamstown in 1988.

She understood the western and north-western suburbs of Melbourne and championed this diverse, multicultural cluster of communities with great passion and commitment. I was delighted to see in The Sydney Morning Herald's obituary yesterday a lovely photo of Joan in the early 1990s with design students at Broadmeadows TAFE in my electorate, now known as Kangan Batman TAFE. Even when she was a minister and Deputy Premier in the Cain government, and then as Premier herself, she remained a dedicated local member for her electorate. Joan continued to fight for her region even after she was no longer a parliamentarian. She campaigned hard to save the Williamstown railway line from closure by the then Kennett government. She helped to establish Victoria University and Scienceworks, an innovative science and technology museum in Spotswood. She also advocated for a metropolitan ring road in the west.

As Premier of Victoria her strength and no-nonsense approach helped her withstand the intensive and relentless media campaign run against her by the conservative media. The Herald Sun in particular was relentless in its depiction of her and constantly sought to draw attention to her gender. Joan never shrank from, nor was fazed by, the Herald Sun's daily depiction of her, while Premier, as 'a suburban housewife with an apron and moccasins', a depiction that she herself said was because she came from the western suburbs. She was always depicted wearing what was later to become an iconic polka dot dress—a dress which she herself said on many occasions she had never worn. Joan always said that the best way to handle this was to turn it into a joke and play it up. This spirit of good humour also inspired her now famous appearance on The Late Show as Joan Jett, complete with leathers and a guitar. Joan was the founding patron of the Williamstown Literary Festival. She loved the arts as much as she loved sport, especially footy. A keen Essendon fan, Joan was also supportive of the Footscray Football Club as they were then called, which also has a strong community base in the west. She was a strong feminist but she could hold her own with any bunch of men in a pub and be perfectly at ease.

I was fortunate to have worked for Joan during the period when she was Minister for Education, in 1989, and witnessed firsthand her enormous energy, passion for reform and toughness. Her leadership in establishing the Victorian Certificate of Education has been rightly hailed as important in making secondary education in our state more equitable and merit based. This reform has made a huge difference to many students from the north-west of Melbourne. Joan Kirner's lifelong commitment to education came from her own background as a working class girl who had the benefit of a good education. She was determined to ensure that these benefits would be available to all children, regardless of their circumstances.

As a fellow former teacher and member for a diverse electorate in Melbourne's north-west, I deeply appreciate all that she strove for and achieved. While a very tough and sometimes fearsome person, Joan always maintained many warm and genuine friendships throughout her career and life. She never lost her compassion, her humanity, her humour or her warmth. I think her own words sum up best how she managed to keep afloat despite the difficult circumstances during her premiership and beyond:

I learned that the best way of convincing the community about your abilities and your care for them and your passion was to be yourself, not to try to be somebody else.

I think she did this well to the very end. Vale Joan Kirner.

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