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| Virtual Tour Sydney 1998 IWD |
Polly Gifford Activist from London, Sydney IWD Collective member, she has worked with Nicaraguan Solidarity and with the Terrence Higgins Trust on AIDS/HIV awareness.
But I can’t help wondering how different this view must have been 70 years ago for the women who organised Sydney’s first IWD event back in 1928. The event was originally inspired by striking garment workers in the United States in 1908 and was adopted by an international conference in Copenhagen in 1910. And here in Australia the militant women’s movement took up IWD with a rally just over in the domain. You can imagine how the conservative society of the 1930’s received their demands of an eight hour day for shop girls and a basic wage for the unemployed. In the years since then IWD has come to mean a great many things to different women from the shocked reactions that greeted feminist author Jane Debony’s open discussion on women’s sexuality in 1936 through to the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s and through the war years when equal pay became a major issue for the first time - has that one gone away? through the walks of peace in the 1960s and the sometimes heated debates on the meaning and direction of feminism of the 1980’s. IWD has still managed to unite women around common goals and the problems facing Aboriginal women first had a voice in IWD through Mrs. Morgan who graces the cover of our broadsheet which I hope most of you have seen today. Mrs. Morgan had the courage to speak out the injustices and racism 60 years ago. Now this is a really impressive history and an important herstory from that one rally attended by a few hundred people 70 years ago there are a multitude of events taking place all over the country not just here in Sydney or NSW and they bring together thousands of women so many in fact that some confusion has resulted in exactly who is organising what event. But I just want to make the point that this freedom was won in no small part to seventy years of feminist activism and that legacy must be acknowledged and carried forward by those of us who are struggling today. Because offcource there is still a struggle going on, to those who say what is the point of IWD can’t women do anything they want today I say ask the descendants of Mrs Morgan if they agree with that because with the debate over Native Title the evils of racism have taken centre stage here in Australia. As you will hear form the speakers today and as you have already heard from Jenny this debate touches on fundamental issues of humanity and for this reason the 1998 IWD collective felt it was essential to take a strong stand and hence our theme for this year Women Unite for Justice and Native Title and this theme has been taken up by IWD collectives across the country and this reflects the strength and the breadth of feeling letting the Howard government know that women will not sit by and let the "ten point plan" pass by unchallenged. It’s not going to happen. The other demand we have here in 1988 are headed by the call to defend Native Title, to acknowledge to stolen children another travesty, to reverse the cuts to rights and services, and to demand justice for all women. Our hope is that these are demands you will take up and carry through not just today but right through the year. There are some people I must thank on behalf of the IWD collective while I am here. Firstly to the Eora people for welcoming us on to their land, to all our speakers and performers both here and later this evening at the dance who give their time and energy to inform, educate and entertain us. Many thanks to them. To all our volunteers, all the people here today and the people who have helped over the past few months of preparation without whom IWD would not be possible. We have also received significant support form the union movement, the nurses association, the Independent Educators Union, the Community and Public Sector Union, the National Tertiary and Education Union, the NSW Teachers Federation, the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees Union, this support form grass greet organisations is particularly welcome and appropriate in light of the current attacks on the rights of women and Aboriginal people. Thanks also to the NSW Department for Women for their support. But most importantly thanks to you all for coming here to be part of this activist, feminist political and historical event. Thank You. And finally I would just like to say please don’t leave that here if you hear something today that inspires you or outrageous you or maybe just interests you find a stall here put your name down and help take some of the responsibility for the things that are important to you. Keep the legacy of International Women’s Day alive and kicking get involved, stay involved and help the women of Australia lead the way in the fight for Aboriginal rights and justice for all women. Happy birthday IWD and I hope you all have a great day. Thank You very much! |
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Hello and greetings
from the IWD collective to all of the sisters and friends
who have come along here today. You must excuse the
dramatic pause but I wish you could all see the view from
up here the number and diversity of women who are here is
a testament to the continuing political will of the women
of Sydney you all look great well done!