Annabelle Rankin
Peter Sekuless
Australian Biographical Monographs 18
Publication month: March 2023
ISBN 9781922815385
Paperback, 134 pages, $19.95
Dame Annabelle has been overlooked for too long. As Minister for
Housing in the Holt and Gorton Governments, she was the first woman with
responsibility for a federal government department and as High
Commissioner to New Zealand was the first woman to head an Australian
diplomatic post. She was, too, the first female whip in the Australian
Parliament. -- From the Foreword
Peter Sekuless brings Dame Annabelle Rankin to life in this
meticulously researched monograph. He has made extensive use of
parliamentary debates, contemporary press reports, and most importantly,
interviews recorded after Senator Rankin’s retirement. We are all the
more informed not just about Dame Annabelle, but of the culture and
values of the times in which she lived and the prejudices that she, and
others like her, had to overcome. Her story also tells us a lot about
the Commonwealth Parliament itself and the nature of the Liberal Party
which was perhaps more of a pioneer in women’s rights than is usually
acknowledged.
Peter Sekuless is a Canberra-based writer who has been a press
gallery journalist, Commonwealth public servant and government relations
consultant. His books include the life of Australian feminist Jessie
Street and a profile of WW11 war correspondent Lorraine Stumm.
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