Two stalwarts of the ACT Assembly have stepped down.
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As they did so, both talked of the advances made by women and of the advantages of a strong female presence among legislators.
From different parts of the political spectrum, the Greens' Caroline Le Couteur and the Liberals' Vicki Dunne reflected on the changes in their time as MLAs.
Ms Dunne took her seat on November 1, 2001. When she stood as a candidate and she had to take a child to hospital, a male party colleague said: "That's why we shouldn't have women candidates."
That, the retiring Liberal MLA said, wouldn't happen today, 19 years later.
Ms Le Couteur said that in her time as an MLA, the balance of the Assembly had shifted so it now has a female majority.
She thinks that has improved the tone. "The men are much more prone to interject," she said.
When there's a commotion, she says, "most of the people yelling out are male".
"It must be the hormones."
Ms Le Couteur cites the all-female Health, Ageing and Community Services Committee - she and Vicki Dunne were two-thirds of it.
"I keep on calling it 'the mothers' club'," she said.
She thinks the female monopoly of the committee and the majority in the Assembly itself has pushed the priorities of lawmakers towards issues like child protection and maternity.
"There's a bit more emphasis on family related issues," she said.
Ms Le Couteur and Ms Dunne aren't close friends - that would be taking misty-eyed notions of friendship across party lines too far.
They disagree on fundamental issues, like abortion - but they do seem to respect each other.
Neither had a bad word for the other. "We've worked very well together," the Greens MLA said.
Vicki Dunne thinks she and her Liberal colleagues, both nationally and locally, influenced legislation on the trafficking of human beings.
Both women cite similar reasons for retiring: age and the burden of relentless work.
"I want to be young enough to have another life, and a life which is shared with my husband," Mrs Dunne, who is 63, said.
Before COVID-19 intruded, the couple was planning to walk the pilgrims' route across northern Spain to the cathedral reputed to hold the remains of St James.
Her husband, Lyle, has done half the 800 kilometres. She has done none of them, but that is now for another time.
In her farewell speech in the Assembly, she cited her strong faith in God. "Erudition, faith and conviction are the best tools you will ever have in politics," she said.
And she is sure the political life she is leaving is valuable: "It's worth it. It's important. And it's a privilege."
Caroline Le Couteur, who is 68, is also leaving to let younger people take over.
It's time, she feels, for "a generational change".
"I'm getting too old and tired. I don't have the energy I had," she said.
"It's a seven-days-a-week job.
"It doesn't matter how hard you work, there's still more to do."
MLAs are paid more than $150,000 a year. Ms Le Couteur wonders if that high salary limits their view of the problems of poorer people.
"We aren't so conscious of people at the bottom," she said
"If you are on social security, there isn't anywhere you can rent in Canberra."
She is most satisfied that the Greens pushed for a big reduction in the ACT's carbon emissions.
"That's undoubtedly the highlight," she said.