Kiwi women voted for the first time 125 years ago today

And take a brief look at the journey Kiwi women took to be granted the right to vote in NZ.

After years of campaigning, door knocking and multiple petitions to Parliament, New Zealand women finally cast their first ballot 125 years ago today.

Eight-two per cent of women over the age of 21 turned out to vote across the country two months after Parliament granted them the right to vote.

It was a triumphant day for the many women who tirelessly petitioned for Kiwi women to have the same voting privilege as men.

How it all came about

From as early as the mid-1860s a handful of women had been advocating for votes for women.

“It was just a few maverick voices at that point, but is was being discussed,” says Victoria University professor Charlotte Macdonald.

A strong push for the vote began in the late 1870s when electoral bills were being put forward to Parliament which had clauses saying women would be given the right to vote not just men.

The movement picked up stream when the Women’s Christian Temperance formed nationwide in New Zealand.

That’s when women started saying, “we want to change the politics in the places that we live”, says Ms Macdonald.

It wasn’t just for political equality, but for moral reform to protect women, she says.

“They were saying ‘we need to organise to get the vote because without that no matter what we do we’re just going to get cast aside’.”

From there, women began a much larger campaign which involved petitioning, public meetings, writing letters to the editor and working with sympathetic MPs.

A lot of their efforts failed, but the women tirelessly continued to work for equality in voting rights.

From 1886 to 1892, a series of petitions were presented to Parliament.

“Petitioning was the only way in which women, and people outside Parliament, could have their voice heard and the British suffrage campaign was petitioning at the same time so it’s a well-known technique,” says Otago University professor Barbara Brookes.

“It was also a really important educationally technique because if you’re going to sign a petition people usually explain to you what it’s about.”

Nearly 32,000 signatures were obtained from women across the country including many Māori women.

It was on September 19, 1893, following another petition, an electoral bill passed in the House when Governor Lord Glasgow signed the bill into law granting women the right to vote.

On November 28, 1893 women dressed up and turned out in their thousands to cast their vote.

This changed the course of women’s lives in New Zealand leading to many policy changes for women, female MP being elected to Parliament 40 years later and eventually three female prime ministers.

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