Aren’t Can’t Don’t: 125 years after New Zealand women won the right to vote, we take a look at what the first polling day looked like for Māori women… sort of. Today is the 125th anniversary of women taking to the polls to vote in the general election for the first time, 10 weeks after … Read more
While the suffrage anniversary offers real cause for celebration, in 2018 not everyone has the right to vote. In the first of two films in our Aren’t Can’t Don’t series, made with the assistance of NZ On Air, women explain what it meant to be denied an opportunity to vote while imprisoned. One hundred and twenty-five … Read more
Tonight in the Auckland CBD you might stumble across a tequila-soaked glamour queen and a T-Rex with no head — but don’t worry, you won’t go hungry. What links a headless dinosaur and a vegan fried chicken burger? Art, that’s what. StreetArtDego, now in its third year, teams artists with purveyors of street food, with each … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. September was a huge month for women both in New Zealand and elsewhere, as we celebrated 125 years of suffrage and watched our Prime Minister hold her baby … Read more
As we celebrate Suffrage 125, let us not forget that just as disabled people were excluded in 1893, many continue to feel excluded from society today, writes Hannah Gibson. This week, we celebrated 125 years of women finally getting the vote in Aotearoa. It’s indeed something to celebrate. It took a petition of 32,000 individuals … Read more
Why did a global first happen in a small and isolated corner of the South Pacific? Historian Katie Pickles has the essential primer One hundred and 25 years ago today, Aotearoa New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant all women the right to vote. The event was part of an ongoing international … Read more
To mark the anniversary of women’s suffrage, we republish this essay from International Women’s Day 2018 by Ātea editor Leonie Hayden – how Māori women can find their way back to equity through the stories of the past. 1893 was the first time New Zealand women were given access to the Westminster vote, but traditionally Māori … Read more
The NZ governor general, lawyer Dame Patsy Reddy, called out the “egregious” behaviour her generation endured from male colleagues in a powerful speech at the Women of Influence awards last night. Disruption, she said, is the only way to effect change The 125th anniversary of suffrage in New Zealand is the ideal time to come … Read more
Last night The Aunties founder Jackie Clark won not just the Community and Not for Profit category but also the supreme prize at the special suffrage anniversary edition of the Westpac women of influence awards. To mark that achievement, which recognises her work with women survivors of domestic violence, we republish here her conversation with Alex Casey, … Read more
The status of women in New Zealand universities as academic and professional leaders still has some way to go, writes Judy McGregor The good news is that women have seized the opportunity to enrol in university in unparalleled numbers in the 141 years since Kate Edger graduated in Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in … Read more
A new book from Te Papa features essays inspired by exhibits held in the national museum. Sue Bradford writes about a Medal for Valour awarded to suffragette Frances Parker – a heroine who blazed with “an exquisite madness”. EXHIBIT: Women’s Social and Political Union Medal for Valour, awarded to Frances Parker PRODUCTION: Toye & Co., 1912 … Read more
Combining the social dynamics of Survivor, the hidden cameras of Big Brother and a cast of Kiwi five-year-olds, Alex Casey finds the perfect reality show. While it’s unbelievable that it’s been 125 years since women got the vote in New Zealand, it’s absolutely mad that it’s also taken this long for The Secret Life format to … Read more