So Many Firsts

Liberal women from Enid Lyons to the Turnbull era

By Margaret Fitzherbert

Inspiring and informative, So Many Firsts examines the political lives of women in the Liberal Party from Enid Lyons to today.

Annabelle Rankin, Margaret Guilfoyle, Helen Coonan and Julie Bishop are among the pioneering women who achieved so many firsts in their achievements as women, and for women.

They had many hurdles to overcome – including the long fight to extend child endowment, the battle to remove the legislative barriers to married women working in the public service, equal work, equal opportunity and equal pay – along with the notion that they could do more than only represent women’s issues. In 1948, The Mail helpfully declared of Senator Annabelle Rankin: “She tackles men’s problem’s too”.

In the Turnbull era, women are occupying many of Party’s key positions, and continue to applying their spirit and talent to achieving even more firsts for the nation.

Foreword - Tom Harley, Chairman, Menzies Research Centre

Introduction

The Liberal Party Emerges 1943-1945

Into Power 1945-1949

The Menzies Era 1949-1966

In Menzies’ Shadow 1966-1972

Opposition 1972-1975

The Fraser Years 1975-1983

Opposition 1983-1994

The Howard Years 1995-2004

Howard’s Last Term 2004-2007

In Howard’s Shadow

Appendix 1 - Women Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries in the Federal Parliament
Appendix 2 - Women in Federal Parliament
Appendix 3 -Liberal Policy and Representational Achievements for Women

Notes / Bibliography / Index

REVIEWS

Fitzherbert refers on more than one occasion to the fact that the Liberal Party does not often commemorate its history or its figures, but this reviewer is certainly glad an exception was made for this excellent book on the history of Liberal women over the past sixty-years. It is an extremely ambitious book which succeeds not only in providing an in-depth history of the role of women in the Liberal Party, but also singles out the key figures. These range from Dame Enid Lyons (who was the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives) to the current Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop (the first woman to hold the position). The book is highly recommended for both general readers and specialists alike. Perhaps Australia in the not too far distant future may find itself with female leaders of both its government and opposition ...

Jatinda Mann, Australian Studies Review, Vol 3, No 10 (2008)

There have always been brave women among Liberal politicians—from Florence Cardell-Oliver in 1939, the sole parliamentary voice against banning advertising of contraceptives in Western Australia, to Judi Moylan and Senator Judith Troeth standing up to the Howard Government’s demonising of asylum seekers. ...

It is often said there are not enough serious books about conservative politics. Margaret Fitzherbert is making a serious contribution to remedying this deficiency, at least in relation to Liberal women. ...

Fitzherbert established her credentials as an historian of women within the party with her earlier book Liberal Women: Federation to 1949. The current book takes the story up to ‘women of the Turnbull era’—an unfortunate subtitle, suggesting limited shelf life. But the book itself has the virtues as well as the vices of an insider account by someone with both good connections and continuing political ambitions. It provides a largely reliable and well-researched history of Liberal women and women’s policy from the perspectives of Liberal politicians, even if it rarely moves beyond these perspectives to attempt broader analysis. ...

Thanks to Fitzherbert and others, the Liberal Party makes much more of the history of its women’s structures than does the Labor Party.

Marian Sawer, Australian Review of Public Affairs, February 2010

Published 19 August 2009
Publisher The Federation Press
Paperback/304pp
ISBN 9781862877177
Australian RRP $39.95
Direct Price $35.00
International Price $35.00
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Politics
Australian History / Studies
Women's Studies

So Many Firsts

Liberal women from Enid Lyons to the Turnbull era

By Margaret Fitzherbert

CONTENTS

REVIEWS