Jenny Leong: Enacting movements
“I love that none of us fit the ‘white man in suit’ model of parliamentarian”
Almost 100 years ago, Edith Cowan became the first woman elected to an Australian parliament, in March 1921.
In Her Seat is asking as many currently serving female politicians as we can how they view gender equality, politics and their impact.
This is a non-partisan project that is soliciting contributions from women in all parties, or none at all, in every parliament.
Jenny Leong is the Member for Newtown in the New South Wales Parliament. She was first elected to the Parliament in 2015.
Jenny is the first woman of Chinese Australian origin in any lower house in Australia.
Prior to entering parliament, Jenny worked for Amnesty International in London, Hong Kong and Sydney working on responses to the Middle East & North Africa Uprising and the 2010 elections in Burma. She also held senior roles in the arts at the Australia Council.
In parliament, she leads the Greens contributions on issues including human rights, housing and climate change.
What does gender equality mean to you?
It’s about eliminating discrimination, changing the systems that oppress people who aren’t cis-men.
And creating a democracy and society that enables everyone to participate without fear, without barriers and without all the crap we currently have had to deal with.
Which female politicians have inspired or encouraged you?
I am inspired by women in public life who demonstrate courage and have the strength to hold to what they believe in — even when others try to shut them down — and oh how people do try to shut women in politics down.
It makes me so happy that Lidia Thorpe has now joined my friend and colleague Mehreen Faruqi in the senate — the two of them inspire me and encourage me to keep going.
I also love it that none of us fit the ‘white man in suit’ model of parliamentarian and the more we can break that mould the better.
What inspired you to serve your community?
The areas that I represent are made up of some of the most progressive people in the country and so the opportunity to be able to take our values, our compassion, our beliefs for a sustainable and equitable future into the parliament felt so important.
I wanted to be a part of building a movement for a better world — and thought together we could contribute to that.
What are the most important contributions you are making in Parliament?
Being one of the co-sponsors of the bill that finally decriminalised abortion in NSW was momentous — and also soooo long overdue!
But that was a collective effort, and the culmination of a movement started by feminists and activists well before I was in Parliament and I pay tribute to them.
Personally, in this time of rising anti-Asian racism, being an Australian Chinese woman in the NSW Parliament — and as far as we know the first woman of Australian Chinese heritage to be elected to a lower house seat in the country — feels like an important contribution in and of itself.
What is next for gender equality in politics?
Smashing the patriarchy once and for all — and putting an end to the bullying and vilification of trans and gender diverse people in our community.
It is also crucial that we change the way our parliaments work so that there are not unnecessary barriers and obstacles put in place.
In Her Seat interviews can be accessed here
