VISITORS to parliament house this weekend will find the foyer packed with protests from the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and the Karrakatta Club, lobbying Sir John Forrest for the vote.
For this year’s Heritage Days the theme is “People Who Shaped Perth” and women’s suffrage pioneers take centre stage.
Actor Caroline McKenzie is playing Edith Cowan, the first woman elected to the WA parliament in 1921. McKenzie, a relative of Cowan’s, and Sophia Forrest — a descendent of the premier — will act in a dramatised debate over women’s rights, recreating fierce discussions between prominent families and community leaders of the day.
The issue of women in parliament isn’t consigned to the dust of history either: today just 27 women are in a parliament of 95. Parliament House is open 10am to 4pm this weekend. To find out all the times for the history events at http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au, and there’s plenty of other stuff going on for the Heritage Days weekend with the program up at heritageperth.com.au
by DAVID BELL
Perth Voice Interactive 
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