Inaugural speech: “A page has been written in history today”
On 17 June 1954 the “tall and bespectacled” Hon Ruby Hutchison gave her inaugural speech in the Legislative Council of the Parliament of Western Australia:
“As the first woman to raise her voice in the deliberations of the Legislative Council of Western Australia, I feel keenly my position and my responsibility to the women of this State and those who will, in general, follow my footsteps. I shall endeavour to live up to the standards of truth and integrity that they would expect of me.”
“For too long has this house been silent for want of a woman’s voice but now one might as well, like the historical figure, King Canute attempt to hold back the rolling waves as try to keep women from their rightful place in the Legislature and public affairs of the State. I hope that I shall not be long without female company here…”
At the end of Ruby’s speech, the Chief Secretary, the Hon. G. Fraser-West spoke:
“A page has been written into history today; a lady has spoken in the Legislative Council. To us mere males that is quite a shock. Therefore, in order to give us an opportunity to recuperate, I move -- That the House do now adjourn.”
Ruby was re-elected in 1960 and later represented the North-East Metropolitan Province from 22 May 1965 until 21 May 1971. During her seventeen years of service, Ruby was the only woman MP in the chamber, serving from the age of 62 until she was 79.
“Portrait of political member of the Legislative Council for Suburban Province, first woman elected to this house, Honourable Mrs Ruby Florence Hutchison leaving the Council”, 31 October 1962
Westpix: WAN-0042529
Causes
During Ruby Hutchison’s political career, she fought for a variety of causes including adult suffrage for the Legislative Council, right of women to serve on juries, child welfare, education, housing and mental health.
Reform or abolition of the Legislative Council
Ruby argued repeatedly for the reform or abolition of the Legislative Council. Outraged at its property franchise, she vowed to “fight untiringly to obtain adult suffrage for this Legislative Council” in her inaugural speech. Ruby eventually saw the introduction of adult suffrage following the 1965 State General Election.
During her 17 years in Parliament, she unsuccessfully introduced several Private Members' Bills aimed at reforming the electoral system in the Legislative Council. In 1962, Ruby was even suspended from the Council for refusing to withdraw a remark that she was ashamed to be a Member due to the “undemocratic” nature of the House.
In her final speech to Parliament, she proposed to “continue to fight for the abolition of the Legislative Council, because I feel Western Australia would be far better off with one House of Parliament.”
Women on juries
Ruby Hutchison advocated for women to be able to sit on juries in Western Australia. The Juries Bill, granting women the right to perform jury service, passed both houses in 1957 due to Ruby's efforts:
“I think one of the instances in which a woman’s point of view is most valuable is in relation to juries. Only a woman looks at the different sides of nature because she understands her children and as they grow into men and women, she understands their problems.”
In 1956, Ruby provided evidence before a Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Jury Act 1898. This was her first time appearing before a committee hearing as a witness. During the hearing she spoke against using the property qualification as the basis to serve on juries.
“It does not mean that because a man has property qualifications that he is a true and reputable citizen; he could be the biggest scoundrel on earth and still have property qualifications. Character and good repute should be the basis of the qualification.”
Ruby strongly opposed amendments to the Juries Bill in 1957 that discriminated against women. For instance, some members proposed an amendment to increase age requirement to 25 or 30 years. The argument was based on the claim that women were not intelligent or could not digest the intensity of court hearings at the age of 21. She claimed that these members were trying to “kill the Bill” quietly.
She also believed that women should also have the same privileges to be excused from service as men. Ruby was highly vocal about this when the Bill was being debated in Legislative Council. Due to her efforts, the passage of this Bill made WA unique in being the first State that admitted women on equal terms with men.
For Ruby, it was pivotal that women be given the choice to refuse if they had a valid reason, as stated in legislation.
Indictable childbirth cases (abortion)
Ruby is also known for her persistence for indictable childbirth cases to be heard “summarily” which means it is brought before a lesser court. She continuously questioned if the Government would allow unmarried mothers to have their case heard summarily, instead of by the Criminal Court. In an Address-in-Reply speech delivered in 1955 she argued that:
“to take a woman who has undergone such an experience into open court before a judge and jury is horrible, and we should try to ensure that such cases are heard privately.”
The Hon Cheryl Davenport remembered Ruby’s advocacy during her ‘maiden’ speech in 1989:
“I remind members of the position taken on this issue by one of my Labor Party predecessors in this House 35 years ago. In one of her early speeches in this Chamber Hon Ruby Hutchison, who was the first woman ever elected to the Legislative Council, advocated "the decriminalisation of indictable childbirth cases". I imagine that if Ruby Hutchison were alive today, she would be devastated to learn that reform of these laws has still to be achieved.”
The Hon Cheryl Davenport successfully introduced a private member’s bill decriminalising abortion in Western Australia in 1998.
Mental health
Phillip M Maude, the then Edith Cowan student (now Professor of Rural Health Nursing, La Trobe University) described Ruby as “a much forgotten player in the evolution of community based care for the mentally ill…a woman with vision and one who advocated for the needs of the mentally ill”. Archie Ellis, psychiatrist and former director of the Mental Health Services in WA, said she was someone who "has a fierce concern for the underprivileged". In 1961, Ruby conducted a world tour looking at trends in mental health. Phillip M Maude asserted that Ruby’s recommendations for reforms “read like a blueprint for the future of mental health services in WA”. In the Legislative Council in 1962, Ruby argued that the depressing Claremont Hospital should be “written off and wiped from memory in this State”. She believed that people with intellectual disability and older people should be removed from mental institutions and properly housed and cared for. She also advocated for “mental health communities which would consist of an outpatient clinic with a day hospital, and community hostels”.
Retirement: “Everybody has been most marvellous”
The Hon Ruby Hutchison gave her last speech in the Legislative Council on 26 November 1970, aged 79, stating that “everybody has been most marvellous”. Ruby was pleased that voting for Legislative Council seats was more equitable, “22,000 young women of 18 years of age will be eligible to vote at the next election” – and reminded her members: “this House is still a House of privilege, and the boundaries remain undemocratic”. Ruby promised to continue campaigning for the abolition of the Legislative Council in retirement.
Ruby retired from the Legislative Council on 21 May 1971. She had mentored a young woman [Lyla Elliott] who “has already been selected to follow me. I hope she gains election and I will be looking forward to that”. Hutchison was succeeded in the Council by Lyla Elliott, who was elected to North-East Metropolitan Province in 1971 aged 37 and served until 1986. In Lyla’s inaugural speech on 15 July 1971, she continued Hutchison’s campaign in fighting the “tremendous imbalance in the voting power of the electors of this State”.