Votes for Women

"Votes for women" was the cry all over Australia 100 years ago. From paddock to parlour, women gathered to plan the campaigns that would lead the world and win them the vote. Harassment and hostility were met with strength of purpose and good humour. Women put all their talents to work for the cause. They published magazines and opened clubs, they staged mock elections and women's parliaments, and they wrote poetry to celebrate. They distributed pamphlets, demonstrated and devised petitions. Women toured the country, crossing mountains and struggling through the outback by carriage or horse-drawn cart, whatever it took to put votes for women on the agenda. Victory did not come easily, but step by step, state by state, women triumphed.