Victoria’s first female premier Joan Kirner has been remembered as the ultimate trailblazer who loved Williamstown – and Williamstown loved her back.
Ms Kirner died on Monday, aged 76, after a battle with oesophageal cancer and other illness.
Former premier and fellow Williamstown resident Steve Bracks, who took over from Ms Kirner as the local MP in 1994, said she left a strong legacy as a member for Melbourne West from 1982-88 and Williamstown from 1988-94.
He highlighted among her achievements her campaign to save Williamstown railway line from closure by the then-Kennett government, establishing Victorian University and Scienceworks, and advocating for a metropolitan ring road in the west
“Fast forward to more recently and she didn’t lose any activism,” Mr Bracks said.
“She supported me when I was the local member and premier in saving the hospital and again, Point Gellibrand (from development).
“Active right to the end with equity issues for women and work with EMILY’S List and local issues such as [opposing high-rise development on] the Port Phillip mill.
“She was genuine, I think that was the key. What you saw was what you got; she wasn’t different publicly to what she was privately.”
Current Williamstown MP Wade Noonan said Ms Kirner was the west’s favourite daughter.
“Woman after woman after woman approached Joan, often with their daughters in tow, to tell her about the enormous influence she had on their lives,” Mr Noonan said.
“Joan was always gracious and humble.
“That kind of legacy beats a statue any day.”
Hobsons Bay councillor and former journalist Angela Altair said Ms Kirner once told her she had become politicised as a young mum on the mothers club at her child’s school.
“The school board called a meeting of the parents club – I think it was called the mothers club in those days – and instead of talking about the very crowded classrooms and those sorts of important issues, they were talking about the length of the uniforms, the tunics.
“She said something like, ‘Not my child’, and stormed out and then formed a much more militaristic group and then became an education activist.
“When Gough Whitlam came to power, he put her on the schools commission, so she was one of the important people who influenced education reform at a national level, this young mum from the suburbs.”
Ms Kirner was the founding patron of the Williamstown Literary Festival and was very active before ailing health forced her to hand over the reins to Ms Bracks.
Cr Altair said Ms Kirner’s book, The Women’s Power Handbook co-written with Moira Rayner, had been “a bible” to her when she became the only woman on an eight-member council in 1999.
“She was unfailingly obliging no matter how busy she was,” Cr Altair said.
“She was a famous ex-premier but you wouldn’t know it – she had this modest demeanour that was just joyful to be with.
“She was always so damn nice.”
Hobsons Bay mayor Colleen Gates said she met Ms Kirner when she was premier and spoke at her all-girl high school about the importance of female leadership.
“Joan welcomed people into her home and into her heart, inspiring others to pursue fairness and to stand up for what is right in our community,” she said.
Altona MP Jill Hennessy described Ms Kirner as “an inspiration and mentor for so many, particularly women in politics, and we are poorer for having lost her”.
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