Justine Butler remembers visiting her mum in her office in a back corner of the then Parliament House and then running across the road to play in the Senate Rose Garden.
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"In summer, we'd run out here and hang out. ... We were the only kids here. Mum was one of very few [women] ... so it was quite special actually," Ms Butler said.
Now Ms Butler's mother - the trailblazing ACT Labor senator Susan Ryan - will have a permanent presence in those gardens, with a bronze sculpture to be installed later this year.
Ms Butler was back in the Old Parliament House gardens on Wednesday to mark the announcement of the location, which has been approved by both houses of parliament.
"I really wanted it to be here, because we have so many memories and connections," she said.
Ryan, who was elected as the ACT's first Labor senator in 1975 and retired from the seat in 1988, was also the first age discrimination commissioner, serving between 2011 and 2016. Ryan died in September 2020, aged 77.
The sculpture - which will be crafted by Victorian artist Lis Johnson - has been commissioned by the ACT government in an effort to correct the gender disparity in public art and memorials.
Johnson, who has more than 30 years' experience, has previously completed statues of Dame Dorothy Tangney and Dame Enid Lyons, the first women to be elected to Federal Parliament. They were unveiled in March 2023.
The location had been approved with the support of the National Capital Authority, and it is expected to be unveiled later this year, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Sex Discrimination Act, a key achievement of Ryan's.
Ms Butler was joined by a group which included ACT Arts Minister Tara Cheyne, federal Territories Minister Kristy McBain and National Capital Authority chief executive Sally Barnes to mark the announcement at the Old Parliament House Senate gardens.
Ms Butler said the process of working with Johnson had been a bit weird at times and emotional, but it had also been an honour.
"When we were looking at various photographs, there's a really terrific photograph of Mum at a rally. I think it was about equal pay, possibly," she said.
The sculpture will depict Ryan in an active pose, wearing the sort of dress she wore at the time.
"So it would look really different to what people are expecting, I think," Ms Butler said.
Ms Butler said she loved the idea that the school groups who regularly visited the gardens would have an opportunity to learn about her mother's life and work.
"I'm not precious. I don't think, 'Of course, everyone knows who Susan Ryan is.' I mean, I'm noticing that people under 30 don't know who Susan Ryan is," she said.
"Why would they? The Hawke government is for them off in the mists of time."
But Ms Butler hopes the Ryan sculpture will pique people's interest in the woman it depicts and her role in improving the outlook for women in Australia.
"I think with these young people, they have no idea about what sorts of discrimination was in place against women for really, really kind of arbitrary [reasons], like not being able to get a loan or not being able to buy a property. I mean, gender pay equity is still a thing. But, yeah, I love that idea," she said of young people learning about Ryan's work after seeing the sculpture.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
