Prime Minister praises Aussie suffragette in Women’s Day speech

Anthony Albanese is expected to laud his own party’s achievements for women at a breakfast event on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister will pay tribute to the memory of an Australian suffragette in a speech to mark International Women’s Day.

Anthony Albanese will address the UN Women Australia International Women’s Day Parliamentary Breakfast on Wednesday morning.

It’s expected he’ll outline a number of steps Labor has taken to make a difference in the lives of Australian women.

Ten of 23 ministers in Anthony Albanese’s cabinet are women. Picture: Martin Ollman / Getty Images

Among those, the Prime Minister will say, are legislation aimed at making childcare cheaper and increasing paid parental leave.

But the centrepiece of Mr Albanese’s speech will be paying tribute to Muriel Matters.

Born in Adelaide in 1877, Matters moved to London in 1905, where she quickly fell in with the Women’s Freedom League.

She was involved in a protest at the Houses of Parliament, chaining herself to the “grille” or metal covering placed in the House of Commons Ladies Gallery to obscure their view of proceedings.

But Matters would make headlines in 1909 when she used a dirigible airship to pamphlet-bomb a royal procession with ‘VOTES FOR WOMEN’ flyers.

At least, she tried to – wind blew the airship off course, and although the 25kg of handbills were dropped, Matters didn’t make it to her intended target.

The Prime Minister will also honour the memory of the late Labor politician and Age Discrimination Commissioner Susan Ryan.

It is also expected he’ll briefly acknowledge former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, who used her position to advocate for victims of sexual assault.

Fifty-four of the 103 members of the Labor Caucus are women, and 10 of 23 cabinet ministers are women.

The breakfast will be held one month before the actual International Women’s Day on March 8.