Voice For Peace - The Spirit of a Social Activist by Kaye Murray

Comments by Dr Keith Suter

Irene Greenwood was one of the most remarkable women I have ever met. I met her a few times in Perth, Western Australia. There is now a fascinating book summarizing her life and achievements.

Dr Kaye Murray, a broadcaster and one of this country==s leading peace researchers, has written about Dr Irene Greenwood: AVoice for Peace: The Spirit of a Social Activist@@. Dr Greenwood was a veteran campaigner for social justice issues, mostly based in Western Australia. She was also a pioneer radio broadcaster (1936BB53), mainly with the ABC but also with some work on commercial stations, including Radio 2GB.

Irene Greenwood was born in Albany, Western Australia on December 9, 1898. Her mother, Mary Driver, was President of the Woman==s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), with the WA branch founded six years before Irene was born. One of her slogans was: AAput the alcohol in the engine, not the engineer@@.

The WCTU was one of the main organizations pushing for social change: not just opposition to alcohol but also votes for women. Mary Driver was also a radical in arguing that girls should receive an education the same as that given to boys.

Irene was bright enough to get into Perth Modern School and ended up as a prefect. She became an accomplished public speaker.

Irene Driver married businessperson Albert Greenwood in 1920. It was to be a long, happy and productive marriage. They first went into the pearling business at Broome.

In 1931 Albert==s business ventures brought the family to Sydney. Irene later took up radio broadcasting as a way of assisting the family=s finances and she found that she had a real talent for it. Her broadcasting career continued after the family moved back to Perth.

It seems hard to imagine that there was a time when women were not trusted with AAhard@@ news stories. The old view was that serious political items should be left to men, while women were to handle the household-related stories. Irene was not only a pioneer female broadcaster but also a pioneer in discussing AAhard@@ news items, not least the gathering political storm in Europe and Asia and the slide towards World War II.

Irene had radical views and conservative mannerisms. She was seen as an establishment society woman, who never went out in public without her hat and gloves. Ironically, as we now know from the released ASIO files, the intelligence service kept an eye on both her and her dangerous mother in the WCTU.

Irene retired formally from broadcasting in 1953. But she continued with occasional broadcasts on the ABC and commercially until at least 1967. She was therefore not only one of the first female radio broadcasters but she was also one of the longest serving.

In 1981 she was honoured by the new Murdoch University as the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate. In 1984, the WA State Government named one of the government ships the MV Irene Greenwood . Given her views on nuclear weapons, the Premier assured her that it would never carry nuclear weapons!

Dr Greenwood died in 1992, aged 94, with a variety of honours, after a long and productive life.

Her family continues to do well. A grandson is Roderick Eddington who is shortly to be knighted by the Queen and who was chief executive officer of British Airways.

Broadcast by Keith Suter, Consultant for Social Policy, Friday 18th November 2005 on Radio 2GB=s Brian Wilshire Programme at 9pm