Dame Ivy Evelyn Annie Wedgwood, (née Drury; 18 October 1896 – 24 July 1975) was an Australian politician who served as a
Senator for
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
from 1950 to 1971, representing the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
. She was the first woman to represent Victoria in the Senate and the first woman to chair a
select committee.
Early life
Ivy Evelyn Annie Drury was born in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
, the older of two daughters born to Elizabeth (née Evans) and Albert Drury; her father worked as a dairyman. She grew up in the suburb of
Flemington, attending the local state school. After leaving school, she worked as a secretary for Paterson, Laing and Bruce, a clothing company. Her manager there was
Stanley Bruce
Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, (15 April 1883 – 25 August 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the eighth prime minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929, as leader of the Nationalist Party.
Born ...
, a future
Prime Minister of Australia. She later worked as an accountant for H. P. Launder, an import firm, and as a saleswoman for
Myer
Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products ...
, a department store.
On 7 October 1921, she married Jack Kearns Wedgwood, a mechanic and ex-serviceman who became an executive at
Holden. They initially settled in
Woodend, but later moved to
Essendon Essendon may refer to:
Australia
*Electoral district of Essendon
*Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington
* Essendon, Victoria
**Essendon railway station
**Essendon Airport
* Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League
United Ki ...
.
Politics
Early involvement
Wedgwood joined the
Australian Women's National League
The Australian Women's National League (AWNL) was an Australian political lobby group federation first established in 1904. It acted in many ways like a political party, with an extensive branch network and the capability to run its own candidates ...
(AWNL) in the 1920s, and eventually won election to its federal executive.
[ One of her political mentors was ]Elizabeth Couchman
Dame Elizabeth May Ramsay Couchman DBE (née Tannock; 19 April 1876 – 18 November 1982) was an Australian political activist. She was a co-founder of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Biography
She was born Elizabeth May Ramsay Tannock, the da ...
, the organisation's president. In 1944, Wedgwood and Couchman were among those who represented the AWNL at the two conferences which led to the creation of the Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
. The league eventually resolved to merge into the new party, but only after securing a number of concessions towards female representation. In Victoria, half of the positions in the party's organisational wing were reserved for women. Wedgwood became a prominent figure in the early years of the Victorian Liberal Party, initially as a member of various committees and later as a party vice-president and head of its women's section. She also represented Victoria on the Federal Executive and as a delegate to the Federal Council.[
]
Senator for Victoria
Wedgwood was elected to the Senate at the 1949 federal election. She was one of ten female candidates, but only she and Agnes Robertson of Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
were successful. Their election brought the total number of women in the Senate to four (out of 60), the others being Dorothy Tangney and Annabelle Rankin. Wedgwood's first term began on 22 February 1950. She was re-elected in 1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
, 1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito is chosen President of Yug ...
, 1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
, and 1964
Events January
* January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved.
* January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...
.[ Wedgwood was the first woman to represent Victoria in the Senate and remains Victoria's longest-serving female parliamentarian; only six other women have served in the Senate for more than 20 years.
In the Senate, Wedgwood was a prominent advocate for women's interests.][ According to her successor, ]Margaret Guilfoyle
Dame Margaret Georgina Constance Guilfoyle (; née McCartney; 15 May 192611 November 2020) was an Australian politician who served as a senator for Victoria from 1971 to 1987, representing the Liberal Party. She was the first woman to hold a c ...
, she "felt that she was there to represent their values and their views". Wedgwood and her colleagues successfully lobbied for the removal of the marriage bar
A marriage bar is the practice of restricting the employment of married women. Common in Western countries from the late 19th century to the 1970s, the practice often called for the termination of the employment of a woman on her marriage, espec ...
in the Commonwealth Public Service
The Australian Public Service (APS) is the federal civil service of the Commonwealth of Australia responsible for the public administration, public policy, and public services of the departments and executive and statutory agencies of the Go ...
,[ and she was a driving force behind the creation of the women's bureau in the ]Department of Labour and National Service
The Department of Labour and National Service was an Australian government department that existed between October 1940 and December 1972.
Scope
Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could b ...
, which monitored trends in women's employment. She frequently raised the issue of equal pay for equal work, and pressed for the appointment of more women to the boards of government agencies and state-run enterprises.[ Wedgwood was the first married woman to serve in parliament (her colleagues all being either unmarried or widowed), and the media made frequent references to her domestic arrangements – one newspaper reported her retirement with the headline "Ivy is a housewife again". She attempted to secure benefits for her husband equal to those given to the wives of male MPs, but was unsuccessful.
According to ]Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia.
Fraser was raised on hi ...
, Wedgwood was at her most influential behind the scenes, both in parliament and within the Liberal Party. She once quipped that her autobiography should be titled ''Men I Have Had Breakfast With''.[ She supported ]John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician who served as the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a l ...
's candidacy for the party leadership in 1968, but her initial enthusiasm was replaced by "distrust and disillusionment",[ and she was later part of the group that worked to replace him with ]William McMahon
Sir William McMahon (23 February 190831 March 1988) was an Australian politician who served as the 20th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1971 to 1972 as leader of the Liberal Party. He was a government minister for over 21 years, ...
.[ Wedgwood was also prominent in Senate committees, most notably as a member of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts from 1955 until her retirement; she was its sole female member during that time. In 1968, she was appointed chair of the Select Committee on Medical and Hospital Costs, making her the first woman to chair a select committee. She later chaired the Standing Committee on Health and Welfare, overseeing the publication of a landmark report into disability issues.][
Wedgwood's final term in the Senate expired on 30 June 1971. Noting her retirement, '' The Herald'' described her as "one of the shrewdest minds in Canberra over the last two decades", but said that she was "comparatively unknown to the general public because she never grandstanded". In 1974, Wedgwood was in attendance at the launch of the National Liberal Party, a right-wing splinter group founded by her former colleague ]George Hannan
George Conrad Hannan (10 September 19101 May 2009) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1956 to 1965 and 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the Liberal Party for all but the last few months of his career, and was ...
. However, it is unclear if she supported the new party or was merely an observer.
Community work and later life
Wedgwood was made a special magistrate of the Children's Court of Victoria
The Children's Court of Victoria is a statutory court created in Victoria, Australia. The court deals with criminal offences alleged to be committed by children aged between 10 and 17 and with proceedings concerning children under the age of 17 ...
in 1945, and the following year was nominated as a justice of the peace.[ She served on the state executive of the National Council of Women, and spent periods as president of the Australian Council of Domiciliary Nursing and the Women Justices' Association.] She was also a long-serving honorary treasurer of the Royal District Nursing Service (RDNS), and in retirement served as president of the After-Care Hospital, the organisation's hospice on Victoria Parade.[ Wedgwood was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 1967 Birthday Honours, for "distinguished services to parliament and the community".] She died at her Toorak apartment on 24 July 1975, aged 78.[
]
See also
* Women in the Australian Senate
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wedgwood, Ivy
1896 births
1975 deaths
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia
Members of the Australian Senate for Victoria
Australian Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Australian politicians awarded knighthoods
Women members of the Australian Senate
Members of the Australian Senate
20th-century Australian politicians
20th-century Australian women politicians
Politicians from Melbourne
19th-century Australian women
People from Flemington, Victoria