ACT Liberal Giulia Jones, who made ACT history as the first woman to breastfeed in the Chamber this year, has urged the Federal Parliament to allow women to breastfeed in its chambers as well.
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Mrs Jones has made a submission to a federal committee inquiry into the breastfeeding rules, saying it was "astounding" that women "are being told what they may and may not do with a breastfed baby".
She was referring to the lower house rules which give women a proxy vote when they are breastfeeding but don't allow them bring their babies into the chamber.
Mrs Jones said while she was a "very experienced mother and breastfeeder" by the time she fed her fifth child, baby Maximus, in the chamber for the first time in August, other mothers in Parliament were not so lucky.
They might be breastfeeding their first baby and "experiencing the ups and downs of managing the baby's behavioural patterns and learning breastfeeding skills for the very first time," Mrs Jones said. "...Some babies are born better able to be fed, and some mums just have a better milk supply than others. Sometimes, breastfeeding is easy and comfortable, and sometimes it is very difficult and requires grit and determination. Basically, before a baby is born, no one can predict how well it will feed."
Mrs Jones said it should be left entirely to the mother to decide whether to feed her baby in the office or chamber.
Federal Parliament is reviewing its rules after frontbencher Kelly O'Dwyer missed two chamber appearances including a division while breastfeeding, and was asked by the government whip whether she had considered expressing more breast milk to avoid missing her parliamentary duties.
While women are already allowed to breastfeed in the ACT Parliament, Mrs Jones will move next week for consideration of allowing them proxy votes here as well.
Mrs Jones said the right to breastfeed in the chamber went to "the intersection of women's aspirations for work and for family".
There should be no requirement for a baby to be feeding for the entire period in the chamber, and there should be no restrictions on how a woman managed her baby, she said.
"I think that in 2015, most women would be surprised to find that there were such specific rules about whether a tiny baby can sit with his or her mother for a few minutes in the chamber while a vote is taking place," she said in her submission.
