EMILY's List Australia
Encyclopedia
EMILY's List Australia is a political network
in Australia
that supports progressive
women candidates to be elected to political office. EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List
, a Political Action Committee
with similar goals in the United States
.
Issues central to the organisation's support of candidates are equity
, diversity
, pro-choice
, and the provision of equal pay and childcare
.
There are over 90 EMILY's List members in Australian Parliament
s. The organisation has contributed over $600,000 to Labor women's campaign
s since its founding in 1996.
, Joan Kirner
mentioned the plan currently before the ALP National Executive
to introduce an Australian version of the US Emily's List
.
In 1994, the ALP National Conference passed an Affirmative Action
Rule requiring that women be pre-selected in 35 per cent of winnable seats, in all election
s, by 2002. This was at the same time as passing of the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986. In 1995 the ALP
decided to form an internal version of EMILY's List,
and in 1996 Kirner established EMILY's List Australia outside the party. with the aim of attaining 45% female membership
in both the House of Representatives
and the Senate
.
The name EMILY comes from its United States equivalent and is an acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast" from the political saying, "Early money is like yeast
, because it helps to raise the dough
".
In the 2004 Federal Election campaign EMILY's List donated a total of $100,000 to candidates. Research conducted by EMILY's List and submitted to the Labor Party's national executive stated that Labor women regarded then health spokeswoman Julia Gillard
as the best performer during the campaign, with then Prime Minister
John Howard
in second place. Of Mark Latham
their submission stated; "the most common themes were: perceived aggression
, concern he had been watered down for the campaign, inexperience, constantly going on about background, glib answers, bully boy tactics of the past"
arians, branch members and women union
ists. Although it is a partisan
organisation, is not controlled by the formal structures of the ALP. At the State and Territory
level there are "Action Groups" (ELAG) which have their own organisational structures This is in contrast to its equivalent in the Liberal Party
, the Federal Women's Committee
which is an integral part of the Party structure.
Queensland
Senator Claire Moore
and Victoria
n social worker and political activist Hutch Hussein are currently the National Co-convenors.
Business networking
Business networking is a socioeconomic activity by which groups of like-minded businesspeople recognize, create, or act upon business opportunities. A business network is a type of social network whose reason for existing is business activity...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
that supports progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
women candidates to be elected to political office. EMILY's List Australia was inspired by EMILY's List
EMILY's List
EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect female candidates to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984....
, a Political Action Committee
Political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee, or PAC, is the name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect political candidates or to advance the outcome of a political issue or legislation. Legally, what constitutes a "PAC" for purposes of regulation is a...
with similar goals in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Issues central to the organisation's support of candidates are equity
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, diversity
Diversity (politics)
In the political arena, the term diversity is used to describe political entities with members who have identifiable differences in their backgrounds or lifestyles....
, pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
, and the provision of equal pay and childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
.
There are over 90 EMILY's List members in Australian Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
s. The organisation has contributed over $600,000 to Labor women's campaign
Political campaign
A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referendums are decided...
s since its founding in 1996.
History
On November 26, 1994, at Fire with Fire: The Feminist Forum held at the Sydney Town HallSydney Town Hall
The Sydney Town Hall is a landmark sandstone building located in the heart of Sydney. It stands opposite the Queen Victoria Building and alongside St Andrew's Cathedral...
, Joan Kirner
Joan Kirner
Joan Elizabeth Kirner AM , Australian politician, was the 42nd Premier of Victoria, the first woman to hold the position, which she held for two years prior to a landslide election defeat.-Biography:...
mentioned the plan currently before the ALP National Executive
Australian Labor Party National Executive
The National Executive is the highest elected body of the Australian Labor Party, one of the major political parties in Australia. The Executive is elected by the party's National Conference, held every three years, and represents the party's state and territory branches. Many of its members are...
to introduce an Australian version of the US Emily's List
EMILY's List
EMILY's List is a political action committee in the United States that aims to help elect female candidates to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1984....
.
In 1994, the ALP National Conference passed an Affirmative Action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
Rule requiring that women be pre-selected in 35 per cent of winnable seats, in all election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s, by 2002. This was at the same time as passing of the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986. In 1995 the ALP
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
decided to form an internal version of EMILY's List,
and in 1996 Kirner established EMILY's List Australia outside the party. with the aim of attaining 45% female membership
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in both the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....
and the Senate
Australian Senate
The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. Senators are popularly elected under a system of proportional representation. Senators are elected for a term that is usually six years; after a double dissolution, however,...
.
The name EMILY comes from its United States equivalent and is an acronym for "Early Money Is Like Yeast" from the political saying, "Early money is like yeast
Yeast
Yeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with 1,500 species currently described estimated to be only 1% of all fungal species. Most reproduce asexually by mitosis, and many do so by an asymmetric division process called budding...
, because it helps to raise the dough
Dough
Dough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
".
In the 2004 Federal Election campaign EMILY's List donated a total of $100,000 to candidates. Research conducted by EMILY's List and submitted to the Labor Party's national executive stated that Labor women regarded then health spokeswoman Julia Gillard
Julia Gillard
Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved...
as the best performer during the campaign, with then Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
in second place. Of Mark Latham
Mark Latham
Mark William Latham , an author and former Australian politician, was leader of the Federal Parliamentary Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005....
their submission stated; "the most common themes were: perceived aggression
Aggression
In psychology, as well as other social and behavioral sciences, aggression refers to behavior between members of the same species that is intended to cause humiliation, pain, or harm. Ferguson and Beaver defined aggressive behavior as "Behavior which is intended to increase the social dominance of...
, concern he had been watered down for the campaign, inexperience, constantly going on about background, glib answers, bully boy tactics of the past"
Organisational structure
EMILY's List Australia is run by a National Committee which includes parliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
arians, branch members and women union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ists. Although it is a partisan
Partisan (political)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...
organisation, is not controlled by the formal structures of the ALP. At the State and Territory
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
level there are "Action Groups" (ELAG) which have their own organisational structures This is in contrast to its equivalent in the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
, the Federal Women's Committee
Federal Women's Committee of the Liberal Party of Australia
The Federal Women's Committee of the Liberal Party of Australia was formed in August 1945 at the inaugural meeting of the party's Federal Council. That year the influenctial lobby group The Australian Women's National League merged with the Liberal Party, and as a result the Federal Constitution...
which is an integral part of the Party structure.
Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
Senator Claire Moore
Claire Moore
Claire Mary Moore is an Australian politician. Moore was elected to the Australian Senate from Queensland in July 2001, representing the Australian Labor Party. Her term began on 1 July 2002....
and Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
n social worker and political activist Hutch Hussein are currently the National Co-convenors.
Candidates
Candidates who are currently supported are:| Candidate | Division | Margin |
|---|---|---|
| Fiona McNamara | Dickson Division of Dickson The Division of Dickson is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland, Australia. The division was formed in 1992 and is named after Sir James Dickson, a leading advocate in Australian Federation, Queensland Premier and Minister for Defence in first Australian Ministry. It is located in the... (Qld) |
-8.9% |
| Mia Handshin Mia Handshin Mia Handshin is an Adelaide-based political activist and a former columnist for The Advertiser newspaper in South Australia, contributing a weekly column to the opinion section from 1997 to 2007. She is an associate director of the consulting firm Government Relations Australia, and an adviser in... |
Sturt Division of Sturt The Division of Sturt is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia.First proclaimed for the 1949 election, Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt, nineteenth century explorer and the first European to discover the Murray River... (SA) |
-6.8% |
| Mary Brewerton | Mayo Division of Mayo The Division of Mayo is an Australian Electoral Division located in the hills, east of Adelaide, South Australia and currently includes the towns of Victor Harbor, Lobethal, Mount Barker, Strathalbyn, Woodside and Kingscote.... (SA) |
-11% |
| Karen Lock | Barker Division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia.The division was created in 1903 and is named for Collet Barker, an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River... (SA) |
-20% |
| Sharryn Jackson Sharryn Jackson Sharryn Maree Jackson , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives. She served one term from 2001 representing the Division of Hasluck before losing the seat at the 2004 federal election... |
Hasluck Division of Hasluck The Division of Hasluck is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.The division was created in 2001 and is named for Sir Paul Hasluck, who was Governor-General of Australia 1969-74, and for his wife, Dame Alexandra Hasluck, a prominent author... (WA) |
-1.9% |
| Sharon Thiel | Kalgoorlie Division of Kalgoorlie The Division of Kalgoorlie was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia, named after the city of Kalgoorlie. The Division, which was proclaimed in 1900 as one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election, covered most of the land area of... (WA) |
-6.4% |
See also
- Women and government in AustraliaWomen and government in AustraliaFrom the turn of the 20th century, women have participated in government in Australia. Following federation, the government of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 allowing most women to both vote and stand in the federal election of 1903...
- Women in the Australian House of RepresentativesWomen in the Australian House of RepresentativesThere have been 85 women in the Australian House of Representatives since the establishment of the Parliament of Australia. Women have had the right to both vote and sit in parliament since 1902, however the first woman to enter the House of Representatives was Dame Enid Lyons in 1943...
- Women in the Australian SenateWomen in the Australian SenateThere have been 80 women in the Australian Senate since the establishment of the Parliament of Australia. Women have had the right to both vote and sit in parliament since 1902 and all states and territories have been represented by a woman in the Senate...