Index

Some events around Peace Day 19 July 1919, as reported in the Melbourne press over one week

NOTES cont.

i. THEY OPPOSED 'WHITE AUSTRALIA''

The Woman Voter 27 October 1914

White Australia Policy Done For:
There are many Australians who have defended a “White Australia” on economic grounds, without a thought of racial hatred, but their self-respect will no longer allow them to uphold the principle when we accept the aid of India and Japan in killing our white “enemies”. If we make East and West one in times of war, we cannot make them two in times of peace... So, there endeth the White Australia policy.

The Woman Voter September 23 1915
Asiatic Deprived of Work:

An Indian, Siva Singh, has been struck off the voters roll for (being?) Indii. He appealed, but the magistrate dismissed the application with two guineas costs against Singh. If Indians are our "brothers" when it comes to a question of helping us kill our "enemies", they must also be regarded as our brothers in Australian citizenship.'

The Woman Voter 3 July 1919

Colour Caste’s a Lie
White Australia Convention:

A convention was held at the Guild Hall on the afternoon and evening of Saturday, 7th ult., to discuss the White Australia question. The Convention was held at the instance and under the auspices of the WPA... There was a good attendance of delegates and visitors... There were short speeches, pro and con... Each spoke 10 minutes, after which, under a time limit, the discussion became general, delegates of other organisations (which were well represented) and visitors joining in...

The golden precipitate gathered from the Convention is the growth of Internationalism and of brotherhood that the tone of the proceedings marked. We are, despite economic fears and purity of blood considerations, learning that “colour caste’s a lie,” and that “a man’s a man for all o’ that.”

j. THEY SUPPORTED SOLDIERS

The Woman Voter 29 July 1915

The soldiers who go away are heroes; the wounded soldiers who return are a nuisance, to be bundled away to their homes, or to hospital, or to other States, as quickly as possible, regardless of comfort or provision of money or food. The treatment metered out to wounded soldiers, and their nurses, who arrived by the “Kyarra”... was brought before the House...The response? “The matter is being looked into.”

The Woman Voter 12 August 1915

Miss Goldstein lent her car last Friday to convey wounded soldiers from the “Ballarat” to the base hospital. Miss John, who took the wheel, had three men under her care - one from Ballarat, one from Maryborough, and a French interpreter. Naturally, Miss John asked no questions, but the men said their experiences had been horrible. They accepted them, however, as part of the game.

The Woman Voter 21 October 1915

Trained Nurses for Soldiers:
At long last the military authorities have consented to employ trained women nurses at the various camps. It is deplorable that it should have taken so long to secure this very necessary reform, and that so many sick soldiers should have had their sufferings increased unnecessarily owing to the lack of that care and attention and sympathy that are so essential to the sick.

The Woman Voter 10 October 1918

The WPA has received an invitation from the Returned Soldiers National Party to send two delegates to a conference to consider after-the-war problems.

k. THEY PROTESTED UNEMPLOYMENT

The Woman Voter 3 June 1915

The procession created a sensation, as this was the first time in history women had made any sort of political demonstration in defence of their own rights. Then the speakers, unemployed women, spoke of their situation:

“Dear Sir, we are here because we want work, not charity. My father wouldn’t let me learn a trade or go in for any profession, because, he said, the home is the woman’s place, but I lost my home because the landlord doubled the rent... For those of us who have no other source of income, two days’ work is not enough.”

The Argus 3 August 1917

Raid on Parliament by Unemployed Women
Extraordinary scenes were witnessed at Federal Parliament House yesterday, when a number of women, headed by Miss Adela Pankhurst, attempted to storm the House and demand work. The first intimation of anything untoward was a hasty summons from the doorkeeper at the main entrance for assistance to cope with a crowd of about one hundred women who had appeared and demanded an interview with the Prime Minister.

The member for Melbourne... hurried out, and was immediately swallowed up in the
crowd...The tumult interrupted the proceedings in the House... reinforcements arrived just in time to defend the doors. Baulked at this point, the women crowded toward, and led by Miss Pankhurst, rushed into the House shouting “We want work. Adjourn the House.” Police cleared them out.

l. THEY ESTABLISHED AND RAN A WOMEN'S UNEMPLOYMENT BUREAU

The Woman Voter 16 and 25 February 1915

Distress in Melbourne
- a scheme to help unemployed women -
We wish to impress upon our readers that Australia is in a very precarious position. Efforts are being made to deprive the community of the benefits which the devotion of many lives has won. There have been wholesale dismissals of employees, which, in many cases, are quite unjustified ...

We want to take some practical steps. Charity is useless and harmful. The WPA therefore will attempt to organise the women workers in industries from which they themselves will draw the sole profit. The number of women registering at the WPA bureau continues to increase, and our little workroom is more than overcrowded...

Nobody can suggest a means by which women can keep their homes together without working, and work is no longer forthcoming.

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