Page 1714 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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of national or international significance, Sue’s contribution was always sought, her presence was always valued and her mark was always felt.
I want to acknowledge two of my staff who asked to contribute to this speech, because Sue left her mark on them too. To Tim and James, thank you for your beautiful words and I hope I do them justice. As Tim and James wrote—their first line—Sue was loved. The room simply bent around her. People wanted to meet, chat and catch up, to listen and to learn. With poise and grace, she held court wherever she went—not because of her ego but because of the respect and love that people had for her.
What mattered to Sue were her family and friends and a life lived in service to the community, working to improve things for the next person and the person after them—indeed, for the planet. Without Sue, the steep climb to equality, inclusion and sustainability will be a little harder, the journey a little colder, lacking the solace offered by her dry, warm wit.
In engaging in policy and activism, Sue was determined and quick and could read a room better than most. She appreciated the challenges everyone had in that room, but she would always push for a tangible outcome. If she could not get half of what she wanted, she would still try for 20 per cent and plant the seed for the rest. Christina Ryan and Carolyn Frohmader put it another way:
She was the epitome of the phrase ‘the personal is political’—taking the individual experiences of women with disabilities, and utilising collective, feminist leadership practices to interrogate the social and political structures that enable the discrimination against disabled women to flourish. Sue was not interested in playing political games. She was interested in outcomes.
And outcomes she achieved. Let me quote Christina and Carolyn again, talking about her time on the board of Women with Disabilities Australia, including four years as president:
Sue helped to take WWDA from a being a small organisation of women with disabilities concerned primarily with building individual confidence and self-esteem, to a highly respected national and international human rights organisation enabling and representing the collective interests of women with disabilities.
That is not to say that they stopped the business of building individual confidence and self-esteem. Indeed, one of Sue’s many legacies is the number of young and emerging disability leaders in Canberra, particularly women, girls, feminine-identifying and non-binary people. I have no doubt that they will carry forward Sue’s work and continue to be inspired by her tenacity.
One of the many things that struck me about Sue was her capacity not just to teach but to learn and expand her own world view. Sue was open about how she and Women with Disabilities ACT had had to rethink their language and ways of doing things to welcome gender diverse members and ensure they felt safe in the WWD ACT
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