19 September

Media Release

New Zealand Celebrates Suffrage Day

Suffrage Day is being celebrated around the country today with events ranging from breakfasts in Hawkes Bay and Wellington, a lunchtime meeting in Auckland in Khartoum Place - the site of the Suffrage Centenary Memorial, and a get - together in Christchurch of those involved in the “Women’s Voices” project recording the experiences of women in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

This year is the 119th anniversary of women’s suffrage. On 19 September 1893, for the first time in New Zealand, and indeed for the first time anywhere in the world, women were accorded the right to vote.

This ground breaking legislation was followed soon afterwards by a law enacted in 1919 enabling women to stand for Parliament. Since that time, other significant rights for women have been achieved as a result of work by the National Council of Women of New Zealand (NCWNZ) and others.

“New Zealand has been an international trailblazer for women’s rights,” says Elizabeth Bang, NCWNZ National President. “It’s important that we retain the momentum and not be complacent because there is still more work to be done”.

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