Edith Cowan centenary: As tired as we are, we must remember the women who walked so we could run

All of the women on my social media feeds are tired. It is a palpable exhaustion and echoes the sentiments in a poem by Nayyirah Waheed who wrote: “All of the women. In me. Are tired.” This isn’t a name-dropping exercise, mind. It’s just to showcase just how much women, from all walks of life, at every stage in life, are over it. I’ve spoken with Federal and State MPs, young women, older women and, heavens, even men about the state of the sexes in this country. They are done with the systemic barriers they face. They’re fed up with the unconscious biases. And, on a scale of anger I’d say we’re all at a “Kevin Rudd screaming at a camera about complicated language” level with the rates of women still being assaulted, harassed or controlled at home, work and on the street. The death of Hannah Clarke and her beautiful children at the hands of their father. The treatment of Brittany Higgins. The absolute palaver around Attorney-General Christian Porter. He was supposed to be a premier. He was then touted as a future prime minister. But this week, the first officer of the law of Australia instead sobbed in front of the media denying horrible historical claims made by a woman who recently took her own life. Usually at these press conferences I feel a bit nervous. It’s a big deal when the big dogs come to town. Instead I seethed with rage as this once-in-a-lifetime event took place just minutes after Australian of the Year Grace Tame gave one of the best speeches of the year, talking about her equally horrific experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of her teacher and her subsequent fight to be heard. Porter is a bloke who had been given every opportunity in life to reach his full potential, to be brilliant, to excel and ultimately reach the highest office in the country. The personification of privilege and pedigree who, even at 17, still couldn’t iron a shirt. I am not cranky about his denial. Calls for an “independent inquiry” into what happened between him and his old debate teammate are getting louder. It’s the wider picture that pisses me off. Porter is brilliant and sacrificed a lot while working his butt off to get where he is. He is a disciplined workaholic and gifted legal expert. But while all of this was blowing up last week, his Liberal colleague, South Australian MP Nicolle Flint, quit. Flint is a conservative MP who was promoted after the 2019 election to deputy government whip, a role akin to assistant school captain. The 40-something is of the same generation as Porter but their paths to Canberra couldn’t have been more different. Flint is single, striking, smart and a moderate who campaigned long and hard to win preselection in her South Australian Liberal branch and then the seat of Boothby. During the last campaign, while Porter occasionally popped up in his seat of Pearce, Flint required round-the-clock security. She put up with sexist commentary about her clothes, her appearance, obscene smears of “skank” and “slut” written on the windows of her electorate office, which was also repeatedly vandalised. She was mocked for “hiding from the media” during the campaign and when she won her seat in the most unlikely of elections, she still copped it. When we say systemic sexism, this is the type of stuff we’re talking about. Following the story of the alleged rape of Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office inside Parliament House, Flint announced her resignation. It’s been reported that Prime Minister Scott Morrison has “demanded the Liberals’ conservative and moderate groups” endorse female candidates in the preselection contest. Nominations close on March 29. Ladies, your country needs you now more than ever. I know it’s terrifying to consider entering politics but “inquiries” and “recommendations” and “confidential helplines” are not going to change the culture of Australia’s head office. Diversity in the ranks will. And I don’t just mean more women. We need more women and men of colour, of differing backgrounds and upbringings, of ideals and ideas. Now is not the time for “imposter syndrome” or thinking you don’t have the skills to be a parliamentarian or make a contribution to a party and the wider community. Don’t be afraid. I mean have you seen the Cabinet line up right now? Stuart Robert, Alan Tudge and Angus Taylor still have ministry positions. And if that doesn’t scream “bare minimum requirements”, I don’t know what does. Morrison’s squad may not believe in quotas for equality but they sure do subscribe to the notion of mediocrity over merit. However there are some bright sparks who are publicly activating and aching for a shift in the culture. People such as Patrick Gorman and Celia Hammond from WA, Labor’s adidas-wearing rising star Ed Husic, and blisteringly bright Queenslander (and mum to three kids under three) Anika Wells are ones to watch. It’s about time we got more WA women with names up in lights too. Or maybe even on a new $10 bill. The last one to do that was was Edith Cowan, the first woman elected to an Australian parliament. Coincidentally the centenary of her successful tilt falls the day before the State election on Saturday. Back in 1921, Cowan had little backing from her party, she ran on the support of locals and even defeated the sitting attorney-general. Leading employment and workplace expert Conrad Liveris last year created In Her Seat, a self-funded historical documentation program that he hopes serves to inspire the next generation of female politicians. In Her Seat features interviews with more than 100 women from varying political parties, ages and geographies to truly reflect modern Australian politicians’ views. Liveris’ findings were telling: “Few are driven by ego. Most are there to fix issues impacting their communities,” he said. The self-aware Cowan realised she would be setting the standard for the women who came after her, according to Mr Liveris. “She was happy to criticise the policies of her own party, saw to the passage of bills which benefited women, children and the entire Western Australian community and campaigned on controversial issues of the time, like supporting sex education in schools.” Sex education in schools! What? Imagine biologically and socially literate children who go on to then understand the intricacies of personal relationships and issues like consent and appropriate conduct.