Miss Howard On Equality

Press, Volume C, Issue 29684, 30 November 1961, Page 2

Miss Howard On Equality

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, Nov. 29. Full equality of the sexes does not exist in the highest Court of the land. Parliament. said Miss M. B. Howard (Opposition, Sydenham) today. Men and women visitors were segregated in some public galleries of the House of Representatives, she said, and she hoped this “nonsensical” custom would be abolished. “There are loud claims of equality in the Public Service. but there is segregation right here, in Parliament Buildings.” she told reporters. In the House earlier today, Miss Howard moved that the House's Standing Orders (rules of conduct) be amended so that no part of the House or gallery open to the public “shall be reserved exclusively for persons of any one sex, race or religion.” “This segregation of the sexes is too silly for words. It’s a custom that has come .s

down through the ages," she said later. “We want to modernise our ways, but without losing any of the dignity of the House or any of its sound traditions. But some of the customs have no sense. “What is the sense in separating a 2^4-year-old boy from his mother when they come to see Parliament?” Miss Howard asked when she related how she had shown a woman friend into one of the public galleries reserved for women. The woman had her young son with her. The gallery attendant told the woman the child would have to sit in one of the men’s galleries. Miss Howard in her 18 years in Parliament has been instrumental in breaking down several “male taboos.” The members' billiards room, she said, was the “sacrosanct sanctum" of men until she went in one night.

“One of the men members told me I would have to leave," she said. “But the sign on the door read ‘Members,' so that was the end of his argument.” Miss Howard can play billiards, but has not during her Parliamentary career found another woman member who could play a match with her. A former Labour woman member claimed she could play, “but after I saw her tearing up the felt I called the match off.” Miss Howard was also the first woman member to use the bathing facilities within the House. She said she once arrived from Christchurch “feeling the need for a refreshing bath, so I headed for the bathrooms only to be stopped by an attendant’s warning: “No women allowed.’" She again pointed out the sign which specified “Members" and was admitted.