Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to reflect upon the passing of Joan Kirner, who passed away at the age of 76 on Monday. Joan Kirner, of course—former Premier of Victoria, the first woman Premier of my state—had a remarkable political record. I think it is very important to note before her entering parliamentary politics how active she was in community politics. Many people have already said since her passing that she was a great activist and she cut her teeth or forged her politics in the area of education. We have heard the fact that she was inspired by her father, a fitter and turner, as a passionate advocate for social justice. She was inspired by both her father and her mother, who was a music teacher, to advance the cause of education, the transformative power of education, the right of children to have a good education and to be able to contribute and have opportunities in life.

I knew Joan. I first met Joan when she was a minister in the Cain government, but I knew her as Dave's mum. I was a good friend of one of her sons, David Kirner, and she struck me as a remarkably strong woman, personable and very engaging. As people have noted, in her first role as Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands she created a remarkable policy in the area of landcare—a policy that went beyond the bounds, ultimately, of Victoria, beyond that state, to become I think a bipartisan approach to landcare in this country. The reason for that and the reason for the success of that policy was that she brought people together, in many cases people that had competing interests, competing constituencies. She forged a partnership with the Victorian Farmers Federation, conservationists and others and developed a remarkable policy.

People who say of her that she was a member of the Socialist Left and she was a left member of the Labor Party believe that somehow she might have been partisan. But she had a remarkable capacity to stand in the shoes of others and to see things from their perspective. The Landcare policy, her first remarkable area of work—in parliamentary politics at least—was a testament to her capacity to think about the issue from every perspective, from farmers' and conservationists' perspectives, and to bring these competing, conflicting constituencies together. She did that. That is why, when she raised the policy with the then Prime Minister Bob Hawke and other federal ministers after she had made it a success in her own state, it was embraced not just by Labor governments but indeed by conservative governments as well.

People talk about her role as the education minister. She introduced the VCE into Victoria. Again, this was a remarkable policy that provided better opportunities for children in that state to access a good education. She got many of her ideas from being a teacher. She graduated from the University of Melbourne. She was a teacher at Ballarat Girls' Technical College. As we have heard, she was required by law to surrender her profession once she married her husband Ron. It is a remarkable thing to think today that a woman who married had to automatically relinquish her own profession. How could that not have an effect on one's views about gender equality in society? She may well have taken some time out of work, as she had three children, but she was constantly active. She became the President of the Victorian Federation of State School Parents' Clubs, a very powerful lobby group in the seventies. She held that position from 1971 to 1977 and then she became the executive officer of that organisation. That is where she got many of her ideas which later became policies of that state when she was Minister for Education. So in two portfolios she left a very significant mark in the areas of conservation and education in that state and, I believe, influenced national policy in both areas beyond that—a remarkable achievement.

What she is also remembered for is that when the government was in dire straits for a variety of reasons—not least of all the failure to regulate and prevent greedy people from doing greedy things—the Labor Party turned to her as a successful and senior cabinet minister to take the role of Premier. She discharged the functions of Premier very well—against the odds, if you like. We have heard the tributes from her then opponent Jeff Kennett. He was not providing too many tributes at the time that he was competing against her, but he has graciously provided some assessment about her formidable ability and has remarked upon her values. I think that is entirely appropriate. She endured enormous pressure. Even though Labor was defeated badly and it was a resoundingly successful victory for the conservative party, she still remained very popular in that state and she was very gracious in her concession speech on that night.

Upon leaving parliamentary politics, she set about rebuilding Labor. One of the ways she knew she could do that was to improve the opportunities for women in the Labor Party and to provide a party that was modern and that was more reflective of society. That is why she became the co-founder of EMILY's List. The concept for this organisation was borrowed from the United States. It really was about ensuring that women of calibre were given the same opportunities as men. I have to say our history back then was not good in terms of allowing women to participate fully in the party, and there is still more to do. But it is remarkable to note that 50 per cent of the cabinet ministers in the current Victorian Labor government are women. The same is the case for Queensland. I do not think it is a stretch to say that would not have happened so quickly and it would not have happened by this year if it had not been for the work undertaken by Joan Kirner and others in creating EMILY's List and cultivating and encouraging remarkable women.

I can use a lot of examples, but I will just confine my comments to Victoria, where I know the process better. Looking at three seats, Jagajaga was held by former minister, Peter Staples; Gellibrand was held by a former Treasurer and finance minister, Ralph Willis; and Lalor was held by former minister, Barry Jones. Their successors were Jenny Macklin, Nicola Roxon and Julia Gillard—three remarkable women. They are former cabinet ministers and, in the case of the latter, a Prime Minister.

The thing about ensuring that women reach the top in politics is that you have to ensure that they are able to compete for safe seats. People understand that in the two major parties. You have to have an opportunity that is not being defeated and going in and out of parliament. To succeed, you have to have a chance of building a career. All three women replaced remarkably capable men. They were also remarkably capable women. They went on to have very successful careers, become very important representatives and inspire other women to follow in their footsteps.

That would not have happened without affirmative action. People do not understand affirmative action. These preselections of Julia Gillard, Jenny Macklin and Nixon Roxon were still hard-fought preselections. In the case of Julia Gillard, it happened to be a hard-fought preselection of three women running for that safe Labor seat. One of the reasons why there are only two women in the current federal cabinet is because of the failure by the other major party to do similar things.

I just wanted to put that on the record and extend my deepest condolences to Joan's family, her husband Ron, her three children and her grandchildren.

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