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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 12 Hansard (14 November) . . Page.. 3660 ..

In this particular instance I also had to be mindful that the minister had notified numerous families that a street was to be named after their relative. I did not wish to offend any of these families by snatching this honour from them. However, in six cases there were no surviving relatives. This motion proposes to replace four of these six with the names of female Australian industrialists. None of the four names I seek to alter are named after people who resided in Canberra.

The four women who I seek to honour with this amendment today are Marie Dalley, Eva West, Edith Adlard and Sylvia Birdseye.

Marie Dalley OBE began a very successful scrap metal business in 1905. She also branched out into other areas of business: running a butcher's shop, farming and manufacturing margarine. Note that 1905 was only four years after women in Australia had been granted the vote.

From 1918, Marie assisted many servicemen to start businesses, often acting as guarantor. Marie bought and distributed food to those in need and was an active participant and contributor to many charities in Victoria. Marie was a justice of the peace from 1935 and an honorary secretary of the Women Justices Association, serving as a special magistrate of the North Melbourne Court. She later sat on the bench of the Victorian Children's Court. In 1948 Dalley was elected to Kew City Council and in 1954 became the first woman mayor.

Eva West MBE was one of the first women in Australia to qualify as an accountant. She became a member of the Society of Accountants in 1918, and she was very active in public life. She was the shire secretary of Traralgon and secretary of the Water Trust, Sewage and Gasworks. She also promoted the welfare of women and girls. She pioneered the Girl Guide movement in Traralgon and raised funds for the war effort, the local hospital and bush fire relief.

Edith Adlard was one of the first women to own and operate a pharmacy in Western Australia. She helped young women in the pharmacy profession by employing them as apprentices and assistants. Edith was the first vice-president of the Women's Pharmacists Association and co-founder of the WA Pharmacists Association. She was also a member of a group of women who demanded equal pay for professional women. Her pharmacy was an informal clinic before the introduction of infant welfare. Edith was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987.

Sylvia Birdseye was a pioneer of the transport industry in South Australia. She helped run the horse and coach business of John Hill & Co Ltd, which later became the first motorised country bus service in South Australia. Sylvia drove the buses and was known as an able mechanic. She became famous on the roads of South Australia, showing just what women could do.

I believe that these four women are just as worthy of commemoration as the four men I seek to replace. Including these women will show future generations that women were an important part of the building of the economic institutions in our community and in our country.

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