Victoria’s first and only female premier could be recognised with the renaming of the federal electorate of Gellibrand after “the west’s favourite daughter”.
Joan Kirner, who died in 2015 at age 76, has been remembered as the ultimate trailblazer whose love of Williamstown was matched only by her passion for education and equal rights for women.
She was the member for Melbourne West from 1982-88 and for Williamstown from 1988-1994.
Labor MP Tim Watts is petitioning the Australian Electoral Commission to rename the federal electorate he represents from Gellibrand to Kirner.
Mr Watts previously pushed for Gellibrand to be renamed Cooper, after Indigenous rights pioneer William Cooper.
Instead, the electorate of Batman, which took its name from John Batman, was abolished in 2019 and replaced by the division of Cooper.
In 2018, Mr Watts said European lawyer and explorer Joseph Gellibrand, who is thought to be a drafter of the Batman Treaty that dispossessed several Aboriginal clans of their land, was not an appropriate namesake for a federal electorate.
Mr Watts’ current petition states the names of federal electorates should recognise Australians who have made outstanding contributions to our nation.
“Yet the contributions of women who have helped make Australia the country it is today are dramatically underrepresented in the names of our federal electorates,” it states.
“There are many women who have made outstanding contributions to Australia but only 17 of the 150 federal electorates are named after them. “We can do better.”
The AEC is currently considering public suggestions on the redistribution of Gellibrand and Mr Watts told Star Weekly it was “our opportunity to show them we want to give women the recognition they deserve”.
“That’s why I’ve launched this campaign to rename my electorate after Joan Kirner, a great Australian woman and a great woman of Melbourne’s west,” he said.
“Joan was not only the first woman to become premier of Victoria – she’s also made a massive contribution to the broader nation through her role in the founding of Landcare and EMILY’s List.
“There’s been a huge show of support since launching earlier this week with over 600 signatures on the petition already.”
Gellibrand was created in 1949 and covers Altona, Altona North, Altona Meadows, Kingsville, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, Seddon, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Williamstown, Williamstown North and Yarraville; and parts of Brooklyn, Footscray, Laverton North, Point Cook, West Footscray and Williams Landing.
