Looking Back: Electoral Milestones For Women So Far

In the movie musical Hairspray, Queen Latifah and Zac Efron’s characters sing about how far they’ve come, but also how far they’ve got to go. As they dance brightly across our screens in their lurid ’60s colours, the lyrics reflect more somberly on how long and hard the difficult road to equal rights can be.

The same sorts of mixed feelings surround the state of Australian politics today, particularly when it comes to the representation of women. It’s been a depressing year, with Julie Bishop missing out on the top job, accusations of sexism on both sides and the dismal numbers of women sitting on our government benches.

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