People

Australian senator makes breastfeeding history while addressing parliament

Reaction to Greens senator Larissa Waters feeding her daughter has been mixed

Greens senator Larissa Waters moved a motion within the Australian Federal Parliament while breastfeeding. The Greens senator made headlines in May this year as the first woman to breastfeed within Federal Parliament.
Fri Jun 23 2017 - 11:30

An Australian politician has made headlines globally for being the first person to breastfeed their child while speaking in parliament.

Greens senator Larissa Waters moved a motion at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday regarding black lung disease - a condition affecting coal miners - while simultaneously breastfeeding her 14-week-old baby Alia Joy. Afterwards she tweeted "First time I've had to move a Senate motion while breastfeeding! And my partner in crime moved her own motion just before mine, bless her." Ms Waters later tweeted a screenshot of a text message she received anonymously, which said she would be "remembered in politics as the dumb B**** with the big tits with an ego that was five feet in front of her brains." Ms Waters tweeted the screenshot with the word, "Lol".

While her parliament colleagues appeared supportive of Ms Waters’ decision to feed her child while speaking on the motion, publicly it has been met with mixed reaction.

In Ireland, women who work are entitled to take off one paid hour a day to breastfeed. The time can be taken in one 60 minute sitting, two 30 minute breaks or three 20 minute breaks. It applies to all women in employment who have given birth in the previous six months.

READ MORE

Alia Joy previously made history just last month after she became the first baby to be breastfed in Australia’s parliament.

“I am so proud that my daughter Alia is the first baby to be breastfed in the Federal Parliament,” Ms Waters said in May.

"We need more women and parents in Parliament. And we need more family-friendly and flexible workplaces, and affordable childcare, for everyone."

Last year, Ms Waters instigated changes to the Australian Senate rules to allow new parents to briefly care for their infants on the floor of parliament. The country's House of Representatives has made similar changes.

It is not the fist time that the Australian Greens has made headlines in relation to childcare at the parliament. In 2009 Ms Waters’ colleague Sarah Hanson-Young made headlines when her two-year-old daughter Kora was taken from her arms and ejected from the Senate chamber.