Events In History
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28 November 1893Women vote in first general electionNew Zealand women went to the polls for the first time, just 10 weeks after the governor signed the Electoral Act 1893, making this country the first in the world to give all adult women the vote. Read more...
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19 September 1893Women's suffrage dayThe governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Read more...
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28 July 1893Women's suffrage petition presentedThis massive suffrage petition − signed by more 25,000 women, about a fifth of the entire adult European female population − helped pave the way for the passage of New Zealand's world-leading Electoral Act in September 1893. Read more...
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14 August 1891Women's vote petitions presented to ParliamentThese petitions, signed by 9000 women, contributed to the introduction of a Female Suffrage Bill in Parliament. This received majority support in the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Legislative Council. Read more...
Articles
Women and the vote
On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
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Page 2 – Brief history
A history of the movement that won New Zealand women the vote in 1893
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Page 3 – Women's suffrage milestones
Women's suffrage milestones from 1869 to 1999
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Page 4 – The National Council of Women
Three years after the vote was won in 1893, a convention of representatives of 11 women's groups from throughout New Zealand resolved itself into the National Council of Women
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Page 5 – World suffrage timeline
Although a number of other territories enfranchised women before 1893, New Zealand can justly claim to be the first self-governing country to grant the vote to all adult women
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Page 6 – Women's suffrage petition
Search the women's suffrage petition.
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Page 7 – About the suffrage petition
Information about the suffrage petition and searchable database
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Page 8 – Further information
Find out more about women and the vote in New Zealand.
The House of Representatives
New Zealand's Parliament dates back to 1854, just 14 years after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the beginning of the European settlement of the country. For most of its history as a nation state, New Zealand has had some form of elected government.
- Page 2 - Quick historyNew Zealand's Parliament has been making laws, scrutinising the government and representing New Zealanders for over 150 years.
Māori and the vote
Between April and June 1868 the first four Māori MPs were elected to New Zealand's Parliament. Despite ongoing debate, the Māori seats remain a distinctive feature of this country's electoral landscape almost 150 years later.
- Page 2 - Setting up the Māori seatsEarly Māori representation in New Zealand
Biographies
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Mangakāhia, Meri Te Tai
Meri Mangakāhia petitioned the government on land rights and argued for women’s suffrage, and actively participated in the Kotahitanga movement, the Māori parliament based at Pāpāwai, Wairarapa.
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Stout, Robert
The careers of Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel were so closely intertwined that Stout’s governments are usually referred to as Stout-Vogel ministries. Both men started their public lives in Otago and followed similar policies.
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Stout, Anna Paterson
Anna Stout was dedicated to the advancement of women, championing calls for equal political, legal, social and educational rights. She was particularly concerned for the education of Maori women.
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Yates, Elizabeth
Elizabeth Yates was elected mayor of Onehunga on 29 November 1893, becoming the first woman in the British Empire to hold the office.
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Wells, Ada
Ada Wells is remembered for her contribution to the women's suffrage campaign in the 1880s and 90s, and for becoming the first woman elected to the Christchurch City Council in 1917.
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Hall, John
John Hall was a force in our politics for several decades, serving as Premier and leading the parliamentary campaign for votes for women.
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Sheppard, Katherine Wilson
New Zealand was the first country in the world to grant women the vote. Kate Sheppard, leading light of the suffrage movement, was vindicated when 65% of New Zealand women took the chance to vote in their first general election.
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Morison, Harriet Russell
Dynamic and determined, Harriet Morison helped establish trade unions for female workers and was one of the leaders in the campaign to get votes for women.
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Fish, Henry Smith
An able but controversial politician, Henry Smith Fish is best remembered for his aggressive attempts to prevent women getting the vote.
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Rātana, Iriaka Matiu
The first Māori woman to be elected to Parliament, Iriaka Matiu Rātana was a passionate advocate for the welfare of her people.
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Howard, Mabel Bowden
In 1947, 14 years after Elizabeth McCombs had become the first woman MP, and more than half a century after women had won the vote, Mabel Howard became New Zealand’s first woman Cabinet minister.
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Main image: Harriet Morison
Harriet Morison was secretary of the Dunedin Tailoresses' Union from 1891 to 1896
