The City of Melbourne has committed to fast tracking three new statues of prominent women in to help address the massive gender imbalance in public art across the city.
On Tuesday, the city council voted in favour of commissioning the new statues and said it will engage with the community to decide which women are honoured. Currently, just 9 of 580 statues in Melbourne depict real women, an issue that’s seen lobby group A Monument of One’s Own (AMOO) — co-convened by Clare Wright and Kristine Ziwica — placing pressure on governments to address the imbalance.
These three new statues come in addition to six announced by the Victorian Government as part of the Women’s Public Art Program, including a statue of Zelda D’Prano, following a joint initiative from AMOO and the Trades Hall Council, with Zelda to be unveiled in the New Year.
Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece told Virginia Triolo on ABC Mornings the council wants the city’s new statues of women to be in figurative form, not abstract versions. While there are many names being put forward for consideration, Reece mentioned Vida Goldstein and Helena Rubenstein as potential options.
Independent MP for Goldstein Zoe Daniel said she would strongly put the case forward for Vida Goldstein, who was a leading suffragist and the first Australian woman to nominate for election in the federal parliament. Goldstein ran for election several times as an independent, and was also the first Australian to meet an American President at the Oval Office, when she was Australia and New Zealand’s sole delegate to the International Women’s Suffrage Conference.
Daniel now represents the electorate in Melbourne named after Vida Goldstein, and paid tribute to her during her victory speech on the night of the federal election earlier this year.
“I’ll be strongly putting the case forward for a statue of Vida Goldstein,” Daniel said. “It’s an honour to represent the electorate that carries Vida’s name, and I encourage all Victorians to get behind our campaign to recognise her this way. It’s long overdue.”
Although Vida Goldstein was never elected to parliament, her legacy for women in Australian politics continues to have an impact.
“Vida Goldstein believed that including women in politics – as voters and as parliamentarians – would change society for the better,” Daniel said.
“She stood for integrity, accountability, courage, and honesty, and although she never won, she inspired countless girls and women, me included, to go for it. It’d be great to see her standing somewhere in the parliamentary precinct, and I look forward to working with the City of Melbourne to make this happen.”