MR STANHOPE (ACT Labor, Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Health, Minister for Community Affairs and Minister for Women): I move:

That the Assembly expresses its deep regret at the death of Helen Leonard, prominent ACT women's activist, and tenders its profound sympathy to her partner and family in their bereavement. Mr Speaker, it is with much regret that I learned of the unexpected and sadly premature death of the women's activist, Helen Leonard, on 12 October, aged just 56 years. Helen touched more women's lives than most could imagine. She began life in Sydney, attended Hornsby Girls High School, and then moved on to Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital as a student nurse. Following the births of her son and two daughters, Helen commenced the work whose legacy we now enjoy.

In 1973, she became an active member of the newly created Nursing Mothers Association of Australia, at a time when, in parts of Australia, women could be charged with offensive behaviour for breastfeeding in public, and relatively few Australian mothers were encouraged to breastfeed. What changes in thinking have been led by women such has Helen!

Helen's commitment to the Nursing Mothers Association continued through localised group leadership and counselling. She moved up the ranks until her eventual appointment, in 1988, to the National Women's Consultative Council as the representative of the Nursing Mothers Association or Australian Breastfeeding Association, as it is now known.

Still living in Sydney, Helen worked for the New South Wales health department, providing self-esteem and communication training. Helen developed lobbying skills inspired by her growing conviction that women should be free to make their own decisions, and be supported in those decisions.

At the same time as her appointment to the National Women's Consultative Council, she was a co-director of Distaff Associates, a co-convenor of WRITES, the umbrella organisation for the Women's Economic Think Tank, and was also involved with Refractory Girl, the Women's Radio Network and other groups. Helen made a number of other notable contributions during her time with the National Women's Consultative Council, including the organisation of the Women's Tax Convention here in Canberra. Helen had a deep interest in spiritual matters throughout her life, and a passion for photography. She was particularly interested in spiritual issues from a feminist perspective. This gave her the desire to attend the 1987 conference on women in the Australian Catholic Church. As she was unable to afford the registration fee, she negotiated to attend as an accredited photographer.

From that point on, Helen was always seen with her camera. She created an extraordinary library of photographs recording the history and activities of many women's organisations in Australia. The National Foundation of Australian Women, together with Helen's family, hope to put these photographs on display. Helen's impact on the community did not stop with her photography. She founded the National Women's Media Centre, after working with her friend Ann Deveson, the journalist and writer, on the portrayal of women in the media. After identifying the fact that only 20 per cent of interviewees in the media were women, Helen led the project that produced the 1998 national women's media directory.

Helen moved to Canberra in 1998, to become national executive officer for the Women's Electoral Lobby. She then moved on to the position of executive officer of the Women's Services Network. She remained in this role until the time of her death, while also being involved with the National Breast Cancer Foundation, the National Women's Media Centre and, through the women's history month, the Coalition of Australian Participating Organisations of Women, or CAPOW. As a consultant, she was involved with a range of other groups.

Helen always worked to the motto: I am optimistic about the future because futures are made by creating the dream that you wish it to be, and working at getting it there. If you are not going to be optimistic about it, then it is not going to happen.

Everything that Helen put her hand to, or tirelessly helped others to do, was part of her ultimate goal to improve the lives of women and children. She was always, however, aware of how much more needed to be done. I am sure, Mr Speaker, that all members will join me in acknowledging Helen's great contribution to women's issues in Australia, and in expressing our sympathy to her partner, Judy Harrison, her son, Christopher, and daughters, Robyn and Carolyn Inman.

MR HUMPHRIES (Canberra Liberals, Leader of the Opposition): Mr Speaker, on behalf of the opposition I am happy to lend support to this motion of condolence to the family and friends of Helen Leonard.

As we have heard, she was a woman of quite remarkable ability, who spent her life involved in a very large number of issues, almost all of them affecting the welfare and advancement of women in Australian society. She was the national executive officer of the Women's Electoral Lobby, and she worked also as the national executive officer for the Women's Services Network. She was also involved in breast cancer endeavours, and in areas to do with Australian women in the media.

In this last area, she engaged in groundbreaking activity. As we heard, at that time only a small minority of people interviewed on television, in news and current affairs programs, were women. Women were not often selected by journalists and others as a source for views about different issues. She dealt with that perception in a very characteristic way: she set up the national women's media directory, which was designed to provide a list of women who would be available to speak to the media on issues about which they had some expertise. It was a tribute to the value of the idea that many women came forward to put their names down as people with a capacity to comment on particular areas of media interest.

Her involvement in a large number of organisations indicates that she was a woman who had a great desire to address injustice and need in the community. The variety of her activities across the field demonstrates that she was a person of quite exceptional ability, an ability often acknowledged and recognised by people with whom she worked.

The former Equal Opportunity Commissioner, Susan Halliday, said this of Helen Leonard after her death: Helen Leonard was not only a woman who provided endless support to others, she was the type of person who made it possible for others to achieve, while never herself seeking credit. Her enthusiasm was contagious, her ability to motivate people inspiring and her willingness to look for the bright side, throwing caution to the wind, and get out there and make a difference when it appeared all had been lost, goes unmatched. Her death was unexpected and she will be sorely missed by a very large number of people in Australia with whom she worked and whose lives she touched by virtue of her activities advancing the position of women. I support the motion before the house.

MS DUNDAS (Democrats): I thank the previous speakers for their kind words and rise to add my voice to the many who remember a friend and a feminist activist.

The condolence book online at www.wel.org.au is full of stories about how Helen touched so many lives, and is a fitting tribute to one who embraced the web and made it her own. Many of the stories touch on Helen's great ability to encourage and inspire women to be outspoken and outrageous, a skill Helen herself had in spades.

It deeply saddens me that one of the first events I attended after the announcement of the election result was a celebration of Helen's life. I know that Helen's congratulations would have been among the most enthusiastic. She would have been sitting in my office already, and all of your offices, encouraging and providing insights on a number of issues. Helen's death during the campaign saddened a number of candidates, and I am glad that we could come together, even though we were battling for seats, to remember Helen.

Helen was special in the way that she welcomed women trying to discover feminism and activism, and the way she treated us all as equal. While her cooking and skills in the kitchen could also be classified as special, it never stopped her being hospitable to those who wandered in. As a young woman trying to participate in an organisation that had already changed the world, and that was full of amazing and well-respected women and feminists, I appreciated that Helen enabled many young women and newer feminists to participate, and that she helped us recognise feminist leaders as women as well.

Her dedication and enthusiasm, and her camera, which recorded so many women and events, will never be forgotten. Her contribution, as part of a strong and continually growing movement, will always be cherished. Thank you Helen.

MS TUCKER (ACT Greens): Helen Leonard's death has left an enormous hole in many people's lives, and in the network of feminists in Canberra and around Australia and the region. For anyone who hadn't had the pleasure of meeting Helen, the tributes on the Women's Electoral Lobby's web site will show you what a rich life she led, how many people she touched, and how many people feel deeply the gap left by her sudden death. In this virtual condolence book are many beautiful and moving tributes to Helen, and to the partnership of Helen and Judy Harrison. Helen was an inspirational feminist to many, a campaigner, stirrer, strategic planner, networker, mentor and friend, with seemingly unflagging energy and humour. From the Nursing Mothers Association of Australia to the Women's Electoral Lobby, CAPOW, and the National Women's Media Centre web site, and on almost every feminist action in between, Helen has been an important presence.

Helen's contribution and presence are still there, through her work, the strength of her personality, and her example, and I think she will continue to be a tremendous force. Helen and Judy Harrison, together, seemed to be part of every feminist activity in town.

Through my personal contact with Helen, working with her, I benefited from her connectedness, her caring, and her free thinking.

Members may remember controversy in the last Assembly over a bus ad, an ad for a hair and nail salon that used the image of a naked woman. ACTION did not want it on the bus, and the then minister did not want it on buses, although there have been all over the buses images of fully dressed women who look more sexualised.

There was controversy, and when I first discussed it with Helen she was dubious of the use of a naked woman, as were other women with whom I discussed it. However, after seeing the image, Helen was excited about it, for different reasons. She was prepared to stand up and fight for the salon manager's vision of the image as a positive representation of women: not a waif, not violated, and not a sex object. There were other women-other feminists-who saw that image as sexualised. Helen was prepared to stand up and argue the case. That energy, preparedness to challenge, and bravery-that positive power-are extremely precious in our community.

Many women's tributes speak of Helen's humour, her attention to working with people, and her sense of being on a journey together. Social change is a long and difficult process. It requires a deep transformation personally, and of formal structures of all kinds in society. It has to be creative and, for all this, partnership, friendship and humour are fundamental. When one of my part-time staff members let her know that I could not make it to an event, Helen said, "Well, what about you? You can't afford it this week? I will pay." Helen made things happen in creative ways. She was a tremendous force.

To give some examples of Helen's work, I would like to mention two of the feminist projects of which she was a part. For the National Women's Media Centre, Helen was the web editor and certainly the person who introduced me, and many others I am sure, to the project. The National Women's Media Centre is "the only national women's organisation dedicated to developing a media ethic in Australia that assumes equality of women and men in all aspects of its operations". This web site, and the project behind it, has links to women with expertise and experience in public life and making the media work.

On this site, there are essays, discussions, help to start writing letters, journalists to contact, links to spokeswomen-no more excuses for journalists who do not contact women-and other useful, stimulating pages, including the women's history month page. A concrete product of women's history month is a fabulous web page, which encourages participation and debate, and inspires, celebrates and teaches. It is a tool for change, building a sense of achievement and of sisters in struggle. I think it shows Helen's contribution and her wisdom. She knew the elements of change through having worked on social change so wholeheartedly and so whole-mindedly for so long.

The section of the web site called "today in history" carries instructions to bookmark this section and check it daily, keeping women's history firmly in mind. This section also includes biographies, a list of women of achievement, and a women's time line- "women have always been there and still are"-and I don't really need to add to that. Also included are great women's history links and women's history projects, such as the Western Australian Banner Project-1999 Special Project, involving a banner to celebrate the victory that achieved suffrage for women 100 years before. This project reminded us to celebrate victories and make sure that women know what this group in WA has done to celebrate connectedness.

There is also a section called "what you can do", which is so important. It suggests that we help put women back into history, saying email your contributions, find a biography on the web and send it, or find a significant date-especially a day date-and send it. If it interests you, it will interest others-send it. One great link suggests that users visit the National Pioneer Women's Hall of Fame.

Vision, inspiration, making connections and building knowledge: these are only a small part of the work to which Helen contributed. She also contributed the intangibles: the connections, the inspirations, the laughs, the strategies, the shared lessons, and the love and friendship that are far-reaching legacies.

I would like to quote two of the women who left their tribute to Helen in a condolence book on the Women's Electoral Lobby web site. Robyn Henderson, of the New South Wales Department for Women, wrote:

Friday was a terrible day for the women of Australia and in the Department for Women we were particularly sad because Carolyn, Helen's daughter, was at work when she heard of her mother's death. Yet, it did not take long for the Helen photos to be put on the table and for the Helen stories to be shared. Everyone had a different tale of how Helen had helped them, mentored them, driven them mad with her persistence and, above all, had been kind and generous to them. While we will miss her great smile and ideas we are blessed with her legacy and are committed to carry it forward in her memory.

Another, Mythiley Iyer, from Brisbane, wrote, If there is a place where all people who leave this life go, then all I can say to men in there is, "I'd be enjoying any vestiges of male privilege, because boys, it is over."

Thanks, Helen, for all the fun. On behalf of the Greens, my office, and myself, thank you, Helen, for your enormous but too short life. We will miss you. Sincere condolences and sympathy to Judy Harrison, Helen's partner, to Helen's children, and to her extended family and many friends.

National Foundation for Australian Women Preferred Donor
Helen Leonard Fund: http://www.nfaw.org/fund_hl.htm