In 1943, Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons became the first Australian women to enter Federal Parliament. Dorothy Tangney was Australia’s first woman senator and the first Labor woman in Federal Parliament. Enid Lyons was the first woman elected to the House of Representatives and the first appointed to federal Cabinet.

On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, The Hon Kristy McBain MP, Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, and members of the Lyons and Tangney families unveiled the commemorative statues of Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons, two courageous and trailblazing women who, together, carved a legacy in politics and public service. 

For more, see https://www.nca.gov.au/environment/projects/past-projects/dame-dorothy-tangney-and-dame-enid-lyons-sculpture#

Photographs by Sharon Crozier-De Rosa September 2023