International Womens Day
Today’s post honours all the women who have shaped and formed Port Melbourne from the indomitable Caroline Liardet onwards.
PMHPS acknowledges the first woman elected to Port Melbourne Council and the first woman mayor, Anna Robieson. She was elected in August 1976 and served until August 1982 and was mayor in 1978-79.
Her portrait stands out from the sea of dark suits in the gallery of mayors at the entrance to the Port Melbourne Town Hall.
Here is the briefest snippet about her time on Port Council which ‘took place within the context of the explosion in new approaches to society and politics.
The Council was confronting complex development issues – the proposed Sandridge Beach railway, a toxic waste dump, Westgate Bridge traffic, demands from newer residents, heritage and preservation concerns – as well as other issues such as new amalgamation threats, confrontations with the MEU and the tension which came with social, economic and political change.’1
We also acknowledge our PMHPS patron, the last mayor of Port Melbourne and first mayor of the City of Port Phillip, Liana Thompson.
References and further reading
1 Noel Turnbull in Women of Port Melbourne: Guide to the Exhibition PMHPS 2005, p55
