The rise of Premier Gladys Berejiklian concides with a new political exhibition

Fit Place for Women: NSW Parliament charts the contributions, struggles and triumphs of women.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Picture: Kym Smith

The ascent of Gladys Berejiklian as NSW’s first Liberal female premier coincides with a new exhibition exploring the history of women in state politics.

A Fit Place for Women: NSW Parliament charts the contributions, struggles and triumphs of women in the state parliament, from campaigners to parliamentarians and parliamentary officers. Berejiklian, who this week named the new members of her cabinet, took the state’s top job following former premier Mike Baird’s shock resignation this month.

The exhibition features stories from across the course of the state’s political history about the campaign for the women’s vote, steered by the Womanhood Suffrage League of NSW. Artefacts, artworks, documents, photographs, newsreels and cartoons are on display, showing the legislative reviews and reforms driven by women, including trailblazers from Millicent Preston-Stanley to Clover Moore, Helen Sham-Ho and Shelley Hancock. The insights of former and current parliamentarians including Kristina Keneally, Carmel Tebbutt and Gabrielle Upton are also featured.

The exhibition runs at the NSW Parliament House until April 28.