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Anne Henderson: ‘Given the Opportunity, She Took It’, The Remarkable Career of Margaret Guilfoyle


Margaret Guilfoyle was a trailblazing and highly respected politician, who followed in a long tradition of active female involvement on the Liberal side of politics. A Senator for Victoria from 1971 to 1987, she rose to become Minister for Social Security and then Minister for Finance in the Fraser Coalition Government. Guilfoyle had the distinction of being the first woman to hold a cabinet-level ministerial portfolio in Australia, and also being the first woman to hold a major economic portfolio. An immigrant whose father died when she was just 10 years old, Guilfoyle’s life is a meritocratic success story that personifies cherished Australian values.

Guilfoyle sadly passed away last year, and so it is fitting that the award-winning author Anne Henderson has just released the first full biography of Guilfoyle as part of the Connor Court Biographical Monograph series. It is a tale of an outstanding woman who never wanted to be defined by her gender, nor pigeonholed into what were considered ‘female’ areas of policy interest, but who nevertheless did much to increase women’s participation and representation in Australian politics through her own outstanding example, and active roles in various forums across the political divide.

Joining us to discuss her new book is Anne Henderson AM. Henderson is the Deputy Director of the Sydney Institute. She is a prolific and respected author, having published books on Enid Lyons, Joseph Lyons, Mary Mackillop, Patrick Glynn and more. In 2014 she published Menzies at War, a detailed account of Menzies’s years in the political wilderness between his two stints as prime minister, which was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for History.

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