MORE INTEREST IN POLITICS

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21727, 9 March 1936, Page 10

MORE INTEREST IN POLITICS

WOMEN AND YOUTH OF] AUSTRALIA INCREASED POPULARITY OF 0 debating A belief that the women and youth of Australia are becoming much more politically minded is held by Mrs Julia Rapke, of Melbourne, who, with her daughter, is at present making a tour of the Dominion. There is a tendency in th'e Commonwealth, Mrs Rapke said, for the younger people and especially the young women, to take a much more intelligent interest in both internal and international affairs. An attempt was being made to educate women to have absolute equality with men in opportunities, status and wages. They were also being encouraged to take a much greater interest in politics, and were being taught to use constructive thought when recording a vote at a state, municipal or federal election. The body which is working for this cause is known as the Australian Federation of Women Voters, with headquarters at Perth, in Western Australia. Mrs Rapke is a member of the organisation. The federation also advocated that women should contest seats at the State or Federal elections, or on any of the local bodies. , Women Justices of Peace In Victoria, women act as special magistrates in children’s courts with full powers of administration. Mrs Rapke said she understood that in New ’Zealand women justices of the peace attended children’s courts, but they acted only in an advisory capacity to a magistrate. Women justices of the peace also presided at police courts. As far as she could observe during her travels in this country, Mrs Rapke said, a vast amount of work was being done in New Zealand in assisting women to obtain equality, but that the organisations hid their light under a bushel far more than their contemporaries in Australia. One society that had impressed her as having done exceedingly useful work was the Society for the Protection of Women and Children. This organisation, she said, seemed to be doing much to cope with many domestic troubles. There seemed to be a reluctance in New Zealand, however, she continued, for women to stand for seats in Parliament or on local bodies., There was none of this reluctance in Australia, and there were always plenty of volunteers.

Debating Popular

Another very satisfying trend in the Commonwealth at present was the rapidly growing interest of young men and women in public speaking and politics. Many of these young people gave practical assistance at election time as supporters to candidates. This was noticeable, not only in the cities, but there were also numberless enquiries even from the backblocks for reading material on political questions. One of the most interesting debating societies was a model parliament in Melbourne which was constituted in exactly the same way as the Federal Parliament. This scheme had been in operation seven years. There was the same number of members, and exactly the same procedure was carried out. The scheme was proving a valuable training ground for public speaking, Mrs Rapke continued, as already this model parliament had turned out three members for the State parliament and one for the Federal parliament. There was no doubt that the training they had received had proved most valuable in their election campaign. Mrs Rapke said she was a member of this parliament and on different occasions had been both “Gov-ei'nor-General” and “Prime Minister.”

afternoon was dull, followed by bright moonlight. This morning was a typical summer day, the sun shining brightly and continuously un'V the afternoon, when the sky clouded over. All surface water has drained away in the Gisborne suburbs and on the flats about the Waipaoa river.

The position is much improved on the coast road, but traffic is still dislocated. The main trouble-is 25 miles north of Gisborne, where the road is blocked by a slip, estimated to contain 2500 cubic yards of soil, and also minor slips further on and nearer Tolaga Bay. There are also slips between Tolaga Bay and Tokomaru Bay. Further north between Tokomaru Bay and Ruatoria the road ii passable. Beyond Ruatoria the road is blocked by an extensive slip south of Tikitiki. It is expected that the slips will be cleared sufficiently to allow cars to get through to-morrow. Both north and south main roads from Gisborne are normal.