00:00Here in Adelaide's Parliament House, the stage is now set for a battle royale between the
00:09progressive forces of South Australian Labor and the vested interests of the Old Guard.
00:14The decisive moment comes in early 1894 when a general election is held. The United Labor
00:22Party sweep a record number of votes and suddenly South Australia is the only colony with a non
00:29conservative majority in its upper house. Sensing the moment will be fleeting, the
00:35suffrage campaigners seize the opportunity.
00:44It's the 17th of December 1894. It's roasting hot. In this chamber, the Adult Suffrage Bill is being read for the second time.
00:54If it's passed, South Australia will become the first colony to enfranchise its women.
01:00In the strangers gallery over there, it's crammed with women, including 73-year-old Mary Lee, all hoping
01:08for a glimpse of this historic occasion. The aisles are filled with women. They sit on the cushioned
01:15seats next to the speaker. They climb the stairs. They even lift their skirts to clamber up for a better
01:21view. The house has never been so full.
01:26If so many scores of women can absent themselves from their family circles by day and night in the mere
01:34hope of seeing Parliament grant to them their citizenship rights, what stories of deserted hearths shall we not hear?
01:49The debate goes on long into the night. The government needs a two-thirds majority to get the bill up and it's fairly sure it's got the numbers.
02:07But the Conservatives are stone-rolling.
02:10Delicate women should be considered as well as the screaming sisterhood. Women do not yet know how to vote. And there will be more informal votes than ever before.
02:23The Adult Suffrage Bill will only be accepted because of the acrobatic feats of political jugglers. It's payment to the ladies for the support they've given to the government. They've been bought cheap by the Labor Party.
02:35The next morning, the House is crackling with the nervous tension of a lost night's sleep. But the suffragists are not the only ones who have been up all night.
02:48Staring down the barrel of defeat, the Conservatives now decide upon a breathtakingly risky course of action.
02:55Instead of opposing the bill, one upper house member adds a last minute amendment. He inserts a clause that would give women the right to something even more remarkable.
03:08Not just the right to vote, but also to stand for Parliament. He is sure this will sink the bill. No man in his right mind would vote for that. Not even a Labor man. Not even the women are asking for that.
03:23The vote is finally taken. It's 31 in favour to 14 against. The bill is passed. The crowd goes wild.
03:40And argument is, i mean, the
03:43just at least a period of рассказыв Tie for me.
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