Dame Enid Muriel Lyons
Dame Enid Muriel Lyons (1897-1981) supported the political career of her husband, Joseph Lyons, before becoming the first female member (1943-51) of the House of Representatives and the first woman (1949-51) in federal Cabinet. Her politics were pragmatic and undogmatic, her party allegiances (Labor then United Australia and afterwards Liberal) secondary to her desire to make society secure and just. Courtesy Australian Dictionary of Biography
Events
First women in federal parliament
Dorothy Tangney (Australian Labor Party, later Dame Dorothy) and Dame Enid Lyons (United Australia Party and later Liberal Party) become the first women to be elected to federal parliament, in the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. In 1949 Enid Lyons becomes the first woman to hold a rank in the federal Cabinet.
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Senate Opposition Whip
Dame Florence Cardell-Oliver is the first female Cabinet Minister in an Australian parliament (Western Australia), while Senator Annabelle Rankin (Liberal Party) becomes the Opposition Whip in the Senate. Two years later, Dame Enid Lyons becomes the first woman to hold a rank in the federal Cabinet.
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