Australian political figures yesterday paid tribute to the pioneering former Labor senator Susan Ryan, after her death was reported, praising her efforts to achieve equality and declaring that the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 would stand as her legacy.
Labor Party leader Anthony Albanese said Ryan, 77, had achieved “historic firsts” in a life “dedicated to women’s rights and equality.”
Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Albanese described Ryan as a “generous, warmhearted, committed progressive who made Australia a better country.”
The Sex Discrimination Act had “changed Australia in a way that was very radical at the time,” he added.
The act outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex, marital status and pregnancy.
Albanese recounted a conversation he had with Ryan about a month ago, saying she had been concerned about “the ongoing attacks against the 12 percent legislated increase in superannuation.”
“We had a great discussion, as we always did. She was positive, as she always was,” he said.
Ryan was the first woman to serve in a Labor federal Cabinet and later became the first Age Discrimination commissioner.
Tributes poured in, attesting to Ryan’s trailblazing role as a feminist and human rights campaigner and her political achievements as the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) first female senator, a position she held for 12 years.
Australia’s first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, joined in the tributes on social media, saying she was “shocked and saddened” that the country had lost a feminist hero and Labor giant.
“She blazed the trail for Labor women, including me,” said Gillard, who was prime minister from 2010 to 2013.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison issued a statement saying the government extended its “heartfelt condolences” to Ryan’s family, saying she was “a groundbreaker who spent her life advocating for Australians who had been excluded from full participation in our national life.”
“Susan Ryan will be remembered as someone who sought to make our country bigger and more open to every citizen,” he said. “She leaves a legacy that will endure.”
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, a Liberal, credited Ryan with being “a champion for justice all her life,” while former prime minister Kevin Rudd described Ryan as “a great reformer,” writing in a tweet: “Without Susan Ryan, there would have been no Sex Discrimination Act. The conservatives would never have done it.”
ACT Senator Katy Gallagher said it was “a really sad day.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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