Wednesday, 9 March 2022

Victorian women’s public art program

Ms WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (09:56): Yesterday was International Women’s Day, and I was proud to mark the occasion by joining the Minister for Women, Gabrielle Williams, at Trades Hall in my electorate to announce funding for six new permanent artworks across Victoria to celebrate the diverse contributions women have made across our state.

The works will kick off with a statue of Zelda D’Aprano, a tireless activist who dedicated her life to fighting for gender equality. She was a figurehead of the equal pay protests in 1969 when she chained herself to the doors of Melbourne’s commonwealth building, and to draw attention to the gender pay gap she only paid 70 cents on the dollar for a tram fare. I reckon that is ripper, and I am delighted that her activism will be permanently recognised with the commissioning of this statue outside Trades Hall in Carlton.

I was shocked to learn that of the 580 statues across Melbourne—or perhaps that is our state; I am not sure—only nine depict real women. That is surprising to me. Whilst these works that have been commissioned will not fully address the drastic under-representation of women in public art, they are a start. I look forward to visiting them all across our state when they are finished.