Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Fremantle has a rich history, going back thousands of years with our Indigenous people and more recently with our migrant history. Women have played an integral role in that history, but to look at the public art, monuments and celebrated stories of Fremantle you would be forgiven for thinking that no women were present in any of this. The idea of giving proper public recognition to the contribution of women to the Fremantle community has been around for a while. There have been efforts over the last several years to take the idea forward by such women as my predecessor, Dr Carmen Lawrence, June Hutchison, Jean Hobson, Shirley Mackay, Kathy Anketell, Ros Marlborough, Zita Pal and Helen Mills.

On Thursday, 3 September I convened a meeting of interested community members at the Fremantle Film & Television Institute to continue this discussion of the celebration of Fremantle women, past, present and future. Among the many people present, it was pleasing to see many Fremantle city councillors. A great number of ideas were generated. In particular the creation of a significant piece of public art, the designation of a public park and appropriate street names, and the publication of a book on Fremantle women were some of the ideas that captured the imagination of the group. The group will be meeting again soon to further these proposals and to discuss ensuring that International Women’s Day is proudly celebrated in the Fremantle community in future years. I look forward to reporting to the House on the progress of this project, and I encourage all members to ensure that the contributions of women are appropriately publicly recognised in their own electorates.