Our Female Leaders: What We Want From 2022
It was a rough 2021 for most, following a tough 2020. So what can we expect from 2022? Do we face into a new year with hope or are we expecting another year of challenge? With a Federal election this year, 2022 could prove to be a sliding doors moment. Which door will we choose to slide through? Marina Go asked female leaders to share their hopes and expectations for 2022.
Natasha Stott-Despoja | Independent expert with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, founding chair of Our Watch, former Democrats Senator for South Australia, author.
I want us to reimagine our society in 2022. I don’t want to expect more of the same. In 2021, we saw the depths and pervasiveness of women’s suffering, now I expect something to be done about it. I expect people to work together: for women to support other women and, especially, support those facing intersecting discrimination and disadvantage.
Unfortunately, I expect 2022 will continue to see the rights and circumstances of women around the world, especially in developing countries and in humanitarian crisis zones, deteriorate. I also expect the global community to react to, and to prioritise, the safety and respect of women and girls.
I am hoping that we treat each other better: with respect, with kindness and especially with care in what is still a time of a global pandemic. And I want our leaders to tread lightly on this earth and enact policies that will help our suffering planet. I want, but don’t necessarily expect, sustainable, compassionate and inclusive change in 2022.
Megan Davis | A Cobble Cobble woman from the Barrangum Nation in Queensland, a Constitutional Professor, a Pro Vice Chancellor and a United Nations Human Rights Council expert. In 2021 she was the co-recipient of the Sydney Peace Prize for her work leading to the Uluru Statement from the Heart with Noel Pearson and Pat Anderson AO.
I am a constitutional lawyer who has devoted 20 years of her life to structural change that can recognise and empower First Nations people. I have also practiced as an international human rights lawyer and I have been a formal UN expert for UN bodies in New York and Geneva for over a decade. In all of this experience I have been working toward a year like 2022.
This year I expect to know the next development in the nation’s journey toward the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Almost five years ago, First Nations people gathered in 13 sites across Australia and were asked to imagine a different Australia in a complex law reform process. This work culminated in a historic National Constitutional convention, the first of its kind in Australian history. When asked to exercise their imagination and consider how the nation could change to make a difference to their lives, First Nations people wanted a Voice. In a constitutional context this means a mechanism that would enhance First Nations participation in the democratic life of the state. A mechanism that Parliament and the Executive and the people of Australia could listen to. This is why a consensus of First Nations people from all points of the southern sky chose a First Nations “Voice” to the Parliament as the most meaningful form of recognition by the nation.
It encapsulates practical and tactile empowerment for communities as well as symbolism. But it can’t happen without the Australian people walking with us. And this is the purpose of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, it is an invitation to all Australians “to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future”.
Over a decade, the Commonwealth has run a public and transparent taxpayer funded process called Indigenous constitutional recognition. In 10 years there have been seven formal processes and 10 published reports to get to a referendum. A Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Australian Constitution via the Australian people voting “Yes” at referendum is the next step.
In 2022, the ALP has committed to running a referendum in its first term of parliament. The Commonwealth is still working through its processes but it has put meat on the bones of a Voice to enable a referendum campaign that can answer the question: what does a Voice look like. We aren’t there yet, but the nation is inching closer. Working together all Australians can make this happen. In 2022, It’s time!
““This year I expect to know the next development in the nation’s journey toward the Uluru Statement from the Heart … it is an invitation to all Australians ‘to walk with us … for a better future’.” ”
Valerie Khoo | Founder and national director of The Australian Writers Centre, curator of the City of Sydney Lunar Festival, artist, author, podcaster.
In 2022, I expect that many people are going to re-prioritise what’s truly important in life. The last couple of years has forced many of us to change the way we work and live. While it’s been unsettling and disruptive in many ways, it’s also challenged me to look at the way I spend my time. And I don’t think I’m alone.
I’ve realised that I’ve run on adrenaline for decades and an enforced slowdown has been a wonderful wake-up call for me to focus on what I’m really passionate about – as opposed to what I think I should be passionate about – and it’s also helped me to stop and smell the roses. So I’m looking forward to even more of that in 2022.
Deborah Clay | National news director for Australian Radio Network, ambassador for the National Centre For Childhood Grief, presenter, commentator.
I am hoping to continue to grow as a strategic leader, journalist and writer in 2022. For the most part, we’ve been covering and analysing one story for nearly two years – COVID-19. All things going well next year will see a range of rich stories given time and space.
A highlight of 2021 was an interview I did in April, which like a lot of things related to news, cropped up unexpectedly. I had landed at Adelaide airport for a trip to see the news team. Lugging my suitcase to the taxi rank, instinct told me to take a call from a number I didn’t recognise. Would I be interested in interviewing New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern first thing in the morning? Despite having a back-to-back schedule in 30-minute intervals the next day I said I’d love to do the interview.
Ms Ardern was engaging, witty and fun and didn’t hesitate when asked about the cultural workplace issues within Australian parliament, that were dominating the news at the time. “No matter what the workplace, whatever the environment,” she said, “women need to feel safe, to feel respected, and to feel there are no barriers for them to thrive. The simple measure: Is it a place that you want to encourage your family and friends to come into? And if it’s not, that says something to you about the environment,” Ardern said.
Here’s to expressing what we think in 2022, and for live performances to continue.