HERSTORY on RTRFM: Giz Watson

A lot can be said about Giz Watson, it’s hard to know where to start. Her career boasts environmental activism, carpentry (at one point, she was one of only three women to be registered as a builder in Western Australia) and perhaps what most people know her for, which is her time as the first openly lesbian parliamentarian in Australia with the Greens.

Watson was born in 1957 in Eastleigh, a town in Hampshire, England, and emigrated to Western Australia in September 1967. She studied environmental science at Murdoch University and, after leaving university to do voluntary work for a couple of years, graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980. Watson was involved in protests against the Vietnam War, and participated in the first encirclement by women protestors of Greenham Common.

In 1984 Watson attained a trade certificate in carpentry from the City and Guilds of London Institute in London- joining an anarchist building collective soon after. In 1985 she returned to Australia and ran a building and construction business in Western Australia.

After joining parliament through the Greens party, she helped to draft legislation that granted gay and lesbian couples the same rights as de facto couples.

Giz Watson was inducted in the Western Australia Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011.

In this episode of HERSTORY on RTRFM, Giz Watson speaks to Taylah Strano about activism, carpentry and caring for our environment.

HERSTORY is an RTRFM podcast series about some of the remarkable women in the Western Australian Hall of Fame.

Join us as we shine a light on the lives and careers of women who have demolished barriers, lived incredible lives, and built a legacy of possibility for the girls and young women who follow in their footsteps.

Produced with the assistance of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at www.cbf.org.au.