Campaign launches to fund $650,000 statue of Australia's first female candidate
A fundraiser aims to raise $650,000 for a statue of Catherine Helen Spence. She brought proportional representation to Australia.
A campaign has begun to raise funds for a statue of Catherine Helen Spence in Canberra. Spence was Australia's first female political candidate.
Spence ran without success for the federal convention in Adelaide. Spence was born in 1825 and died in 1910.
She was a writer, preacher, reformer and feminist. She championed electoral reform.
Spence travelled to Britain and learned about the single transferable vote system from Thomas Hare. She adapted it for Australia.
The proportional representation system used here became known as the Hare-Clark system. Constitutional lawyer Kim Rubenstein has secured in-principle support from the National Capital Authority.
He also secured support from the City Renewal Authority. The project is part of A Monument of One's Own.
This campaign aims to increase the number of women remembered in Australia's public spaces.
- $650,000
- Cost
- 1825
- Born
- 1910
- Died
- Thomas Hare in Britain, 1864
- Met reformer
Why it mattersWomen make up a small share of public statues in Australia. Recognising pioneering figures changes whose history the nation decides to remember.
AustraliaCanberra is gaining a monument to a figure who shaped Australia's voting system, and the campaign may inspire similar initiatives in other cities.
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