Brisbane statues get more women with latest unveiling

A Brisbane girl has won a victory in her push to balance the scales with more statues of deserving women for the city.

Malia Knox with the new bronze statue of Dr Abigail Allwood in Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

Malia Knox was only eight when she realised there were only three statues of inspiring women in Brisbane, so the ­determined schoolgirl started petitioning parliament for gender equality and started a campaign #femalefaces4 publicplaces.

Malia’s hard work has finally came to fruition, with Health Minister and Minister for Women Shannon Fentiman unveiling a bronze statue of Abigail Allwood in Brisbane Botanic Gardens.

Malia, now 10, and Dr Allwood joined the minister for the reveal.

Dr Allwood, a geologist and astrobiologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, is the first woman and the first ­Australian to serve as a principal investigator on a Mars mission.

Her contributions to the field focused on the detection of life on other planets and the evolution of life on early Earth.

Her statue stands outside the Sir Thomas Brisbane ­Planetarium.

“After learning about how much the planetarium inspired Abigail Allwood as a little girl, I had the idea that maybe one day we could have a statue of her here at the planetarium to inspire our future generation of girls,” Malia said.

Ms Fentiman said the statue would be a reminder to girls that they could do anything.

“I always say that ‘girls can’t be what they can’t see’ and this is what makes the unveiling so important,” she said.

“I want to thank Malia Knox for her passionate advocacy and Dr Abigail Allwood for being an incredible inspiration for so many girls.

“Our $35,000 funding contribution underscores the Pala­szczuk government’s dedication to achieving greater representation of women and girls in public spaces.

“It’s why we’ve also committed to fund a statue acknowledging the success of our mighty Matildas at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.”

Dr Allwood said that Malia was the true inspiration for having not only recognised the problem, that women were not being represented in public statuary, but also recog­nising a need for action and then having the courage to act and the drive to see it through.

“What she has done will have untold benefits for women and girls, and indeed all members of our society in the future,” she said.

“I’m greatly humbled to be recognised as part of this ­important campaign, through the installation of a statue at the Brisbane planetarium.

“I hope that this statue may put the spark of an idea in the mind of some future little girl, who stares up at the night sky, wondering what’s out there.”