Women’s Right to Vote in New Zealand
Women’s Suffrage Day / September 19, (1893)
When did women get the right to vote in New Zealand?
On a spring day in the Southern Hemisphere—September 19, 1893—New Zealand Governor Lord Glasgow picked up his pen and signed into law the Electoral Act that would forever change the course of democratic history. With this signature, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. The path to this revolutionary moment had been paved by years of determined campaigning, strategic organizing, and passionate advocacy by suffragists and their allies.
While women in some regions around the world had previously gained limited voting rights, New Zealand’s legislation stood apart in its universal scope at the national level. This landmark decision positioned the young colony as a pioneer in democratic rights and established a legacy that would inspire and influence suffrage movements worldwide. The journey to women’s enfranchisement in New Zealand reveals a fascinating story of strategic activism, political maneuvering, and social change within the specific context of a colonial society forging its national identity at the edge of the British Empire.
Early Colonial Society and Women’s Status
Before European colonization, Māori women held significant positions within their communities. Many could be rangatira (chiefs) in certain circumstances, some had speaking rights on marae (communal meeting grounds), and women both held and managed property. The social status of Māori women was reflected in the fact that several high-ranking women signed the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the founding document of New Zealand as a British colony.
The arrival of European settlers brought with it Victorian ideals of womanhood that contrasted with traditional Māori gender roles. The early colonial period introduced British laws and customs that restricted women’s public roles. The 1852 New Zealand Constitution Act granted voting rights only to male property owners, establishing a gendered political system from the colony’s inception.
Colonial life in New Zealand did, however, create some unique social dynamics. The frontier conditions and relative scarcity of women in early settlement sometimes necessitated women taking on roles that would have been considered non-traditional in Britain. The absence of an entrenched aristocracy also created a somewhat more flexible social environment than in the home country. Education for girls, though primarily focused on domestic skills, gradually expanded as the colony developed. These factors would later contribute to New Zealand’s receptiveness to women’s political rights.
The Birth of Reform Movements
By the 1860s, voices began to emerge calling for women’s rights in New Zealand. Mary Müller, writing under the pseudonym “Femina,” published “An Appeal to the Men of New Zealand” in 1869, becoming one of the first to publicly advocate for women’s political rights in the colony. “I wish to call attention to a subject which has not yet been publicly discussed in New Zealand,” she wrote, “namely the right of women to vote for representatives in Parliament.” Müller’s words found limited audience at first, but they planted seeds that would grow over the coming decades.
The 1870s and 1880s saw increasing attention to women’s education and economic opportunities. Advocates like Mary Ann Colclough lectured on women’s rights, focusing initially on education and financial independence rather than political rights. Their arguments often stressed that improving women’s status would benefit the entire society—a theme that would remain central to the suffrage campaign.
The true catalyst for organized suffrage activism came with the establishment of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in New Zealand in 1885. Founded by American missionary Mary Leavitt during a world tour, the organization spread rapidly across the colony. While primarily focused on alcohol prohibition, the WCTU adopted women’s suffrage as a key goal, reasoning that women voters would support temperance legislation.
The connection between temperance and suffrage was both strategic and philosophical. Many women viewed alcohol as a contributor to domestic violence and family poverty—issues that directly affected their lives and communities. The argument that women needed the vote to protect their homes and families from the ravages of alcohol abuse proved persuasive to many who might otherwise have opposed women’s political participation.
The WCTU provided much more than just a moral argument, however. It created an organizational structure, leadership opportunities, and networks of politically engaged women across the country. Local branches sprang up in towns and cities throughout New Zealand, giving women experience in public speaking, organizing, and advocacy. These skills would prove invaluable in the suffrage campaign to come.
Kate Sheppard and the Campaign Takes Shape
In 1887, a soft-spoken but determined woman named Kate Sheppard was appointed Franchise Superintendent of the New Zealand WCTU. Born in Liverpool, England, and having immigrated to New Zealand in 1869, Sheppard would emerge as the preeminent leader of the suffrage movement and its most eloquent voice. Under her leadership, the campaign for women’s voting rights became increasingly strategic and well-organized.
Sheppard recognized the need for effective communication and established the “White Ribbon” newspaper as the voice of the movement—the first paper in New Zealand run entirely by women. Through its pages, suffragists articulated their arguments, coordinated activities, and built a sense of common purpose. Sheppard herself wrote persuasive pieces linking women’s votes to social improvement, countering anti-suffrage arguments with logic and moral reasoning.
“All that separates, whether of race, class, creed, or sex, is inhuman, and must be overcome,” Sheppard wrote, framing women’s suffrage as part of a broader human rights movement. Her ability to connect women’s voting rights to widely shared values of justice and social progress helped broaden the movement’s appeal beyond the WCTU’s temperance advocates.
The movement gained momentum as women’s organizations proliferated beyond the WCTU. Groups like the Auckland Women’s Political League formed specifically to advocate for women’s political rights. Suffragists built coalitions with other reformers, including liberal politicians who saw women’s votes as supporting their broader agenda of social and political change.
By 1891, the suffrage campaign had developed enough organizational strength to launch its first major petition drive. Volunteers traveled through towns and countryside collecting signatures in support of women’s voting rights. The petition garnered an impressive 9,000 signatures and was presented to Parliament by sympathetic politician Sir John Hall, a former Prime Minister who had become a crucial parliamentary ally.
While this first petition did not succeed in changing the law, it demonstrated significant public support and established a template for the campaign to follow. A second petition in 1892 collected even more signatures—19,000—showing growing momentum. Parliament again defeated the measure, but by a narrower margin.
The Final Push to Victory
The 1893 petition drive represented the culmination of years of organizing. Suffragists throughout New Zealand mobilized to collect signatures, walking from house to house, setting up tables in public spaces, and speaking at community gatherings. The result was a petition signed by nearly 32,000 women—almost a quarter of the adult European women in New Zealand—a remarkable achievement in a young colony with a dispersed population.
The presentation of this massive petition created a powerful visual statement. When brought into Parliament, the petition was symbolically unrolled across the floor of the chamber, its physical length dramatically illustrating the breadth of public support. This dramatic gesture made an impression on lawmakers that mere numbers could not convey.
The political landscape had shifted significantly by 1893. The Liberal Party had come to power in 1891, bringing a broader reform agenda. Many Liberal MPs supported women’s suffrage, though the party leadership was divided on the issue. Premier John Ballance had initially supported women’s voting rights but later wavered. After Ballance’s death in April 1893, Richard Seddon became Premier—a man who privately opposed women’s suffrage, but publicly equivocated on the issue.
The electoral politics of the time created an unexpected opening. Seddon, attempting to defeat the Electoral Bill through parliamentary maneuvering, added a women’s suffrage amendment, expecting it to fail and bring down the entire bill. To his surprise, two opposition members who had previously opposed suffrage changed their votes. On August 11, 1893, the amended bill passed the House of Representatives, sending it to the Legislative Council (the upper house) where previous suffrage bills had failed.
The final weeks of the campaign saw intense lobbying focused on the Legislative Council. Suffragists organized letter-writing campaigns and personal appeals to council members. Anti-suffragists, including liquor interests, who feared prohibition would follow women’s enfranchisement, lobbied just as intensely against the measure.
On September 8, 1893, in a dramatic vote, the Legislative Council passed the Electoral Bill by the narrowest of margins—20 votes to 18. Even then, opponents made a last-ditch effort, pressuring Governor Glasgow to withhold assent. But on September 19, 1893, Glasgow signed the Electoral Act into law, making New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world to grant universal women’s suffrage.
News of the victory spread rapidly. Suffragists celebrated in homes and meeting halls across the country. Kate Sheppard received telegrams and letters of congratulation from women’s rights advocates around the world. The achievement was all the more remarkable for having been won through peaceful advocacy, strategic organizing, and persuasive argument rather than through the militant tactics that would later characterize some other suffrage movements.
Women at the Ballot Box
With the law changed, a new challenge emerged: mobilizing women to register and vote in the upcoming election, scheduled for November 28, 1893. Only 10 weeks separated the passage of the law and election day, leaving little time for voter education and registration.
Suffrage organizations transformed into voter education groups, holding meetings to explain the registration and voting process. The WCTU and other women’s organizations encouraged women to exercise their hard-won right. Newspapers published guides to voting procedures. Despite the short timeframe, women responded enthusiastically. Approximately 109,000 women registered to vote—about 84% of eligible women.
On election day, women across New Zealand made their way to polling stations. In many locations, separate polling booths had been established for women, some decorated with flowers to welcome first-time female voters. Contemporary accounts describe a dignified and orderly process, with women often arriving in groups or accompanied by family members.
A visitor from America described the scene: “The women came in a steady stream all day long, and they came on foot and they came in carriages, they came with their husbands, their fathers, and their brothers… They represented all ranks of social life, from the lady of highest social position to the humble domestic servant.”
By day’s end, about 90,000 women had cast ballots—82% of those registered, a turnout rate slightly higher than that of male voters. In Māori electorates, women voted alongside men, though registration figures for Māori women were not well documented.
The election results defied both hopes and fears about women’s impact. The governing Liberal Party maintained power, and no dramatic shift in political alignment occurred. Prohibition candidates did not see the sweep that temperance advocates had hoped for and liquor interests had feared. The election demonstrated that women would participate responsibly in democracy, validating the suffragists’ arguments and refuting opponents’ dire predictions.
An Inclusive Victory
One of the most significant aspects of New Zealand’s suffrage achievement was its inclusivity. The 1893 Electoral Act granted voting rights to all adult women aged 21 and older, regardless of property ownership or race. This universal approach made New Zealand’s suffrage unusually progressive for its time.
Māori women gained the vote on the same terms as Māori men, making New Zealand the first country in which indigenous women could vote. Women participated in the Māori electorates that had been established in 1867 as part of accommodations for indigenous political representation. This inclusive approach contrasted with some other countries where suffrage would later be restricted by race even after gender barriers fell.
The absence of a property qualification meant that working-class and poor women could participate equally with wealthy women in the electoral process. This universal suffrage reflected both pragmatic politics and the egalitarian ideals that were becoming part of New Zealand’s national identity as a “social laboratory” at the edge of the empire.
The peaceful manner in which suffrage was achieved also distinguished the New Zealand campaign. Victory came through petitioning, lobbying, and persuasion rather than through the violence and militant tactics that would characterize some later suffrage movements. This approach reflected both the political culture of the colony and the strategic choices of leaders like Kate Sheppard, who recognized that demonstrating women’s reasonableness and responsibility would be crucial to winning male legislators’ support.
Beyond the Vote: The Continuing Struggle
While winning the vote represented a monumental achievement, gender equality remained incomplete. The 1893 law granted women the right to vote, but not to stand for Parliament—that would not come until 1919. Married women continued to face legal disabilities regarding property and guardianship. Professional opportunities remained limited, equal pay was not established, and divorce laws discriminated against women. The suffrage victory, while significant, did not immediately transform underlying gender roles and expectations.
Women’s organizations continued advocating for expanded rights after 1893. The National Council of Women, formed in 1896, developed a broad platform of reforms beyond voting rights. Organizations like the Society for the Protection of Women and Children addressed issues of family violence and welfare. Women gradually gained greater economic independence and expanded educational opportunities. More women entered the professions and public life, though progress was incremental rather than revolutionary.
The first woman was not elected to Parliament until 1933, when Elizabeth McCombs won a by-election for the seat previously held by her deceased husband. The path to broader political representation proved long and sometimes difficult. Equal pay legislation would not be passed until 1972, and discrimination based on sex was not prohibited by law until the Human Rights Commission Act of 1977.
Yet the foundation laid in 1893 proved enduring. Over time, New Zealand continued its progressive tradition in women’s rights. The country established the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (now Ministry for Women) in 1984, achieved one of the smallest gender pay gaps in the developed world, and saw women serve in the highest offices of state. Jenny Shipley became the first female Prime Minister in 1997, and Jacinda Ardern‘s election as Prime Minister while pregnant in 2017 further demonstrated the country’s progressive gender politics.
A Global Legacy
New Zealand’s pioneering role in women’s suffrage had international significance. Suffragists in Australia, Britain, the United States, and beyond cited New Zealand’s example in their campaigns. Australian women gained federal voting rights in 1902, though initially excluding Aboriginal women. Finland became the first European country to grant women’s suffrage in 1906. British and American suffragists corresponded with New Zealand activists, seeking information about their successful strategies.
Opponents of women’s suffrage had predicted that extending voting rights to women would cause social chaos, destroy family life, and undermine democracy. New Zealand’s experience provided a powerful counterargument. Elections proceeded smoothly, family life continued unchanged, and democracy was strengthened rather than weakened. International observers who visited New Zealand reported on the positive outcomes of women’s enfranchisement, helping to counter anti-suffrage rhetoric globally.
In 1894, Kate Sheppard traveled to Britain, addressing suffrage organizations there and sharing insights from the successful New Zealand campaign. Her message emphasized the importance of inclusive organizing, strategic coalition-building, and persistent advocacy. Though Sheppard herself remained modest about her role, she became an international symbol of women’s political empowerment.
The New Zealand suffrage campaign’s emphasis on petitioning and peaceful persuasion influenced tactics elsewhere, particularly in countries with British political traditions. The demonstration of massive public support through petitions became a standard approach for suffrage movements worldwide. The connection between temperance and suffrage, pioneered in New Zealand through the WCTU, was replicated in many countries where temperance organizations provided ready-made networks of women activists.
Women’s Suffrage Day New Zealand / $10 banknote / Commemorating the Achievement
New Zealand has preserved and celebrated its suffrage heritage through various commemorations. The centenary in 1993 marked a major national celebration, with events throughout the country highlighting the achievement and its ongoing significance. New memorials were dedicated, historical exhibitions educated the public about the suffrage movement, and the occasion prompted reflection on continuing gender equality challenges.
Kate Sheppard’s image appears on the New Zealand $10 note since 1993, which marked 100 years since the women’s suffrage bill was passed, making her one of the few non-royal women to be featured on currency worldwide. The Kate Sheppard Memorial in Christchurch incorporates the names from the 1893 petition, literally etching the grassroots nature of the movement into public memory. Suffrage Square in Auckland and the Women’s Suffrage Memorial in Wellington similarly honor the achievement. September 19 is officially designated as Women’s Suffrage Day, with annual celebrations marking the anniversary.
These commemorations serve not only to honor the past but to connect historical struggles to ongoing efforts for gender equality. Schools throughout New Zealand incorporate the suffrage story into their curricula, ensuring new generations understand this foundational chapter in their national history. Political leaders often use the occasion of Suffrage Day to announce new gender equality initiatives, drawing explicit connections between historical achievement and contemporary challenges.
The preservation of historical sites associated with the suffrage movement further maintains this connection to the past. Kate Sheppard’s home in Christchurch has been preserved as a historic site, allowing visitors to connect with the physical spaces where the movement was organized. Archives maintain the actual petition documents, correspondence between suffragists, and other primary materials that document this historical achievement.
Women’s Right to Vote in New Zealand: Pioneering Global Suffrage
September 19, 1893, stands as a watershed moment not only in New Zealand’s history but in the global advancement of democratic rights. By becoming the first self-governing nation to grant women the right to vote, New Zealand established itself as a pioneer in political equality and set an example that would inspire suffrage movements worldwide. This achievement resulted from a combination of persistent activism, strategic political alliances, and a reformist political climate that made New Zealand receptive to democratic innovation.
From Kate Sheppard‘s steady leadership to the thousands of women who signed petitions, from parliamentary allies like Sir John Hall to Māori advocates like Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia, the suffrage victory represented a collective achievement that crossed lines of class, ethnicity, and faith. The inclusive nature of this suffrage—extending to indigenous Māori women as well as European settlers—further distinguished New Zealand’s achievement as particularly progressive for its era.
The legacy of that September day in 1893 remains visible in contemporary New Zealand—from Kate Sheppard’s image on the $10 note to the country’s track record of women serving in the highest political offices. Yet perhaps the most profound legacy is the principle established: that democracy functions best when it includes all adult citizens, regardless of gender. This principle, revolutionary in 1893, continues to inspire efforts for political equality worldwide.
As Kate Sheppard herself wrote in the aftermath of the victory: “The news is being received with great joy by the women all over the country… All we need is to continue to be what we have been, each woman doing her best to use this power in the wisest way she knows.” Her words capture both the historical significance of the achievement and its enduring challenge—to use political power wisely in the ongoing pursuit of a more just and equal society.
Women and the vote
On 19 September 1893 the governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new Electoral Act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
> nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/womens-suffrage
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