Edith Cowan, Australia’s first woman MP, barely recognised 100 years after making history

On this day, 100 years ago, a woman by the name of Edith Dircksey Cowan beat Western Australia’s attorney-general to become the first female member of parliament in Australia and the second in the British Empire.

Yet, even in her home town of Geraldton on the Mid West coast, not many people know about this champion of women’s rights.

Surprise victory

At the age of 59, the Nationalist’s victory came as a surprise, when she beat Thomas Draper who, in a twist of fate, was the one to amend the state’s electoral act to allow women to stand for parliament.

While elected in March, Cowan did not make her inaugural speech until late July and was not afforded the traditional respect of an uninterrupted speech, with many opposing the presence of a…