Senator HUME (Victoria) (17:57): I, too, would like to take note of the ministerial statement. It is an extraordinary honour indeed to once again stand in this chamber and reflect on one of the most momentous events in the political history of our nation. It was indeed 75 years ago today that Dame Enid Lyons, the member for the Tasmanian electorate of Darwin, was elected to this parliament, along with Western Australian Dame Dorothy Tangney—though at that stage she was not Dame but Mrs Tangney—who was elected to the Senate. It is Dame Enid Lyons I would like to reflect on. I think I can safely say that I am the southern-most female Liberal senator. It's a terrible shame, and I look to my colleagues in the rows ahead of me in this chamber to say that, yes, they have a responsibility to fix that so that perhaps before we get to the 76th anniversary of Dame Enid Lyons's entry to parliament we can have a female Tasmanian senator from our great party reflecting on this momentous occasion. I would like to devote some attention specifically to Dame Enid and the triumphs and challenges that characterised her place in history. Of course, while she is best known as Australia's first female parliamentarian, she certainly wasn't new to the demands of political life. Dame Enid grew up in Tasmania to parents who were Methodist. Her father worked in timber mills—if memory serves correctly—and her mother, sadly, was a member of the Labor Party. She was a political activist and she brought— Senator Cameron: That's where the good genes come in. Senator HUME: It's alright; she eventually saw the light, Senator Cameron. She was brought up in a very politically active household where political discourse was encouraged around the table, and her mother also believed in the value of female education. You can imagine that this was quite an unusual feature at the turn of the last century. She went to a teachers' college in Tasmania to pursue her education. That was the only option. At a Labor Party her mother introduced her event to her future husband, Joe Lyons, who was at that stage—I can't remember what seat he was the member for; perhaps Senator Abetz might remind me—I think, the Treasurer of the Tasmanian parliament. She married Joe Lyons when she was only 17 and he was 35, so there was a significant difference between them, but it was a marriage of great affection and love that lasted until his death. I should remind the chamber that Joe Lyons was Treasurer of Tasmania—he was Premier of Tasmania, wasn't he? Senator Bushby: Labor Premier. Senator HUME: Although he was a Labor Premier of Tasmania, he went on to become a UAP Prime Minister of Australia. He was our prewar Prime Minister. While Joe Lyons was Prime Minister, Dame Enid Lyons had a gruelling public speaking schedule in support of her husband. You can only imagine what that must have been like. During the period of time when Joe Lyons was either Treasurer, Premier or Prime Minister, Dame Enid gave birth to 12 children, which is quite extraordinary. There might have been a couple of miscarriages along the way; I think there were 15 pregnancies in all. One of her children died very young, of whooping cough, so she had 11 by the time Joseph Lyons died in office, which was a tragic, sudden and unexpected event. She did once reflect that her hardest role in life was that of the Prime Minister's wife. I wonder whether Lucy Turnbull would give the same answer today; I wouldn't be at all surprised. It was terribly tragic when Dame Enid's husband died in 1939 and left her a widow at only 41 years of age. At that stage she truly retreated into grief, went back to Tasmania and watched a number of her older sons go off to the Second World War. You can only imagine combining grief with that stress. World War II saw Australia change quite profoundly. Over the war years the number of women in the workforce increased dramatically, by a third, and there was a newfound respect for the changing roles of women, their abilities and their contributions. Before the Second World War only a handful of women had been elected to Australian state parliaments, and at that stage the mere suggestion of female parliamentarians was considered something of an outrageous experiment whose outcome was very uncertain. But in the midst of the social change of World War II a vacancy arose in the seat of Darwin. I like the fact that it was Dame Enid's daughter who talked her into running for that seat. She won that ballot by only 800 votes. On entering she was a very popular member. I think she was nominated as deputy leader the moment she entered parliament, which is quite an honour indeed. Being a woman who was extraordinarily modest, she declined that nomination. I wonder whether we would see people do that today. She had a political toughness and a folksy charm that characterised a very unique style and personal appeal. Her speeches were known for their humour but also their very sentimental nature. Indeed, Sir Robert Menzies said of her speeches—I love this phrase: She could reduce me to tears about the state of a railtrack … I might have done the same in this chamber, but probably tears of boredom as opposed to tears of sentiment. Senator Cameron: This is the same speech you gave last night. Senator HUME: Don't you love that quote? She was a trailblazer just for being here, but she also had some extraordinary achievements while in office. Hers was a reasonably short parliamentary career, only eight years. She left out of ill-health in the end. This is extraordinary: she had an undiagnosed broken pelvis, which was from one of her earliest pregnancies. You can imagine, after 12 children, to have an undiagnosed broken pelvis, to have run for parliament and to have sat in the House of Representatives all that time, was an extraordinary physical achievement, if nothing else, and the travel back and forth to Tasmania. We could only imagine what that would have been like. While she was here, she made some very significant contributions to issues that were important not just to women but also to the nation and specifically with regard to women and children. She had a very unique perspective on women's issues. Things like maternal health care, the widows pension, elimination of employment discrimination and particularly the extension of child endowment to first children. She also fought to see legislation passed which secured citizenship rights for women after marriage to foreigners. It was unusual at that stage for women to maintain their cultural identity after marriage. Also, and I love this one in particular, she ensured that allowances to servicewomen who returned from the Second World War matched those of returned servicemen. Her electoral successes were also enviable. The 800 votes that she won by in her first ballot she tripled in her primary vote at the next election and quadrupled it after that. If only those of us in this place, and in the other place, could experience such electoral success today I think we'd be very pleased with ourselves. Prime Minister Robert Menzies promoted her to be vice-president of the Executive Council, which made her the first woman to hold a cabinet position—although it wasn't a portfolio that she held. It was widely regarded that she was certainly capable of being a cabinet minister and holding a portfolio, but her ill health caught up with her. Prior to the 1951 election, she was in quite a significant car accident, went to hospital and had a number of operations. That was what it was that eventually forced her retirement. I think that her insights, her policy legacy, her wit and her wisdom have endured throughout time. It is, in fact, timeless. She once reflected, and I have used this quote before, that our nation: … is still a land of promise. We cannot afford to neglect some recognition of our past, even though we gaze into the future. She certainly was a woman who blazed a trail. In a political climate where voters remain distrustful and removed from their representatives, it's women like Dame Enid Lyons and their legacy that remind us of why we're here, the importance of what we do and the importance of representing not just one section of Australia but all Australians.