Throughout the late nineteenth century, the issue of women’s suffrage was a major political concern throughout Australia, including in the Port Melbourne community. A number of large political meetings were held in favour of women’s suffrage in the area, which drew attendance from all over Melbourne. The Port Melbourne Council held an official public meeting to hear the views of Port Melbourne residents on the issue in 1894, with a motion in favour of women’s suffrage being passed almost unanimously, with a petition signed by attendees presented to Parliament. The 1891 “monster petition” of 300,000 signatories demanding votes for women, which is now memorialised in the “Great Petition” sculpture near Parliament House, includes 510 signatures who gave their address as Port Melbourne, including 51 signatories from Station Street alone.
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