Inquiry - Nothing Venture, Nothing Gain

Television (Full Length Episode) – 1974

This edition of the 1970s current affairs show sees reporter Joe Coté investigating women in politics. A potted history of the trailblazers — from suffragist Kate Sheppard to Māori MP Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan (first to have a baby while in office) — leads to wide-ranging conversations with contemporary women in politics. Future Christchurch mayor Vicki Buck (here a 19-year-old council candidate) and others from across the spectrum, talk about ongoing struggles for equality: education, empowerment, abortion, childcare support, and the ‘old boys’ network.

A good example [of sexism] is when the space agency said that they couldn’t have women astronauts, because in a situation of weightlessness their breasts would float around ... and distract the male astronauts.
– Phillida Bunkle, Victoria University Women’s Studies lecturer