Abstract
Not Much Peace in the Pacific
All is far from peaceful in the Pacific region when it comes to women in parliament. While a woman’s place in the House is indisputably necessary, the Houses of Parliament need a lot of cleaning up and that work should not be left to women alone. Take Fiamē Naomi Mata‘afa, for example, who was elected to Samoa’s Parliament four decades ago and, in 2021, became its first female Prime Minister, defying the Pacific region’s entrenched ‘big men’ ruling culture. In March 2025, she defeated a second no-confidence motion during which she was told by a member of her own party that she should have got married so someone could have advised her properly. (Adel Fruean, Doug Dingwell and Nick Sas, ‘Samoa’s Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata‘afa shrugs off gendered attack, defeating second no-confidence vote’, ABC News, 11 March 2025.)
In January 2025 Marie Louise Milne was elected to Vanuatu’s parliament, the only woman to do so, and only the seventh woman to sit in Vanuatu’s parliament in nearly 45 years. She has not been given a ministerial role but has quickly made her claim to one saying, ‘It’d be good if we could recognise the voice of women and give a ministry to the only woman Member of Parliament, so there’s also balance in the executive of the national government.’
She has been backed by calls from human rights and gender equality advocates. Wilson Toa, country director of Balance of Power which advocates for women’s representation in politics said, ‘It requires men within [the] political parties to be able to say it’s about time we give opportunities to our mothers, our sisters, our wives and our daughters to be able to participate’. Marie Louise Milne told the ABC that, ‘being the only female member of the parliament in a predominantly male environment can lead to feelings of isolation.’ (Doug Dingwell and Leah Lowonbu, ‘Vanuatu’s new parliament elects Jotham Napat as PM as nation begins post-earthquake reconstruction’, ABC News, 11 February 2025.)
More than Lonely – Dangerous, too
Papua New Guinea has ranked almost last in the UN’s analyses of female representation in the National Parliament. Since independence in 1975, only nine women have been elected to the National Parliament and there have been rigorous campaigns to keep them out, ranging from the old ‘merit’ argument to outright violence. (Lauren Sauer, Violence Against Women in Elections in Papua New Guinea: An IFES Assessment, June 2023.)
A 2025 Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) issue brief covered 33 parliaments including Australia, China, Indonesia, Thailand, India, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, finding that violence against women in Parliament was a violation of their human rights and hindered their full participation in political life. In the report, 76 per cent of women parliamentarians and 63 per cent of staff reported different forms of violence, including sexual assaults, being spat on and abuse at alarming rates. It recommends that government and parliamentary authorities need to do far more to protect women in politics. Many women do not report these insults, probably because of the inaction that so often follows complaints, although it is heartening to see some countries – such as Australia, Fiji, India and Thailand – have introduced confidential reporting and support services. (‘Sexism, Harassment and Violence Against Women in Parliaments in the Asia-Pacific Region’, Inter-Parliamentary Union, March 2025.)
Vale Sally Brown AM
Her Honour Sally Brown left us in March 2025. Sally did so much to improve opportunities for women in law including her commitment to forcing the judiciary and the legal profession to face up to their blatant gender bias and discrimination, lack of understanding about domestic violence, sexual assault and poverty and the dismal conduct women in law have had to face on a daily basis. The battle’s far from over but she gave us great encouragement and inspiration.