Kernot, Cheryl

▪ 1995

      As one of the foremost Australian role models for young women, Cheryl Kernot—senator from Queensland and leader of the Australian Democrats (AD)—highlighted the contribution made by women climbing the ladder of success. In 1994 she launched an "Inspiring Women" calendar for 1995, with herself as Miss April under the rubric "Strength and Courage." Kernot said that she hoped the calendar would send the message to women that success and inspiration were not necessarily synonymous with fame and wealth and that happiness was not just about being thin or fashionable. She ended by quoting Emmeline Pankhurst: "Women will only be truly successful when no one is surprised that they are successful."

      Kernot was born Dec. 5, 1948, in Maitland, New South Wales. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree and Diploma of Education from the Universities of Sydney and Newcastle, she taught in secondary schools for 10 years and worked in the communications industry as a freelance radio producer.

      The most popular chief of any Australian political party, she became AD leader after 81% of the full membership elected her in May 1993. She had joined the Democrats in 1979 (two years after its founding), in part because she was attracted to an organization that right from the start had set up party administrative processes that were very appealing to women. In an early speech to the Australian Federation of University Women in Brisbane, Kernot recalled that because of the party's relative youth, the Democrats had not formed links with unions, business, or farmer organizations and had never had to battle with the sort of vested interests and entrenched male hierarchies that existed in other places. She was the party's representative in a Young Political Leaders' exchange tour of the U.S. in 1986, and in 1990 she was elected to the Senate on her fourth attempt. In late 1993 Kernot was heavily involved in the successful passage of the historic Native Title (Mabo) legislation, acting as a behind-the-scenes negotiator between the government, the Senate independents, and Aboriginal groups.

      Later, addressing the Harvard Club of Australia in Brisbane on Oct. 1, 1994, Kernot drew attention to her own main political preoccupation, the widening gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" in Australia. With the major parties doing battle for the political middle ground, she said, both the government and the opposition coalition were essentially locked into policies and programs that were the most welcome to the greatest number of voters. This ensured that neither of the major parties wanted or would dare to enter into public dialogue with the people of Australia about the fairest way of raising sufficient revenues to continue to fund the services of a civilized society. In 1994 Senator Kernot kept faith with the Australian Democrats' traditional motto, "Keep the Bastards Honest." (A.R.G. GRIFFITHS)

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