Country Women’s Association

Dr RAHMAN (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I honour the Country Women’s Association of the Northern Territory. A lot of people do not know what it does and still think that it is an organisation largely about tea and scones, but it is a lot more than that. 

The objectives and governance of the CWA seek to improve the conditions of life for women and families in the NT, provide community services, participate in and support our town and district schemes for cultural and welfare projects and, moreover, to be non-party-political, non-sectarian and a not-for-profit organisation. 

Particularly in our rural and remote communities, the CWA has sought to improve the welfare and circumstances of women and children by bringing people together, improving their lives and providing better educational opportunities. It seeks to reduce the drift of population to cities by improving health, education and communication services in the outback. 

The first branch of the CWA in the Northern Territory goes back a long way to 1930 at Rankin River. The Darwin branch was established later in 1937, with the CWA of the Northern Territory being established in 1960. Before 1960 the branches that used to exist in the lower part of the Territory were formed under the CWA Association of South Australia, and those in the Top End were formed under the CWA of Queensland. 

We had previous branches across the Territory in Batchelor, Mount Bundy, Jabiru, Pine Creek, Victoria River Downs, Elliott, Warrego, Ali Curung and even in Amoonguna. Now in 2026, there are still six branches left, and they are in Alice Springs, Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Litchfield, Katherine and Tennant Creek. The Tennant Creek branch will celebrate its 90^th anniversary this year, and I am reliably informed by the Member for Barkly that it is the repository of fantastic arts and crafts, which is all headquartered safely in the Tennant Creek offices. 

The actual headquarters of the CWA these days is in Fong Lim, in Bishop Street, Woolner. It has a lovely building there. What does the CWA do in that building? Quite a lot and quite charitable work. In line with its objectives, it fundraises and donates back to the community to support a lot of like-minded organisations. Many of you in this room have talked organisations and enterprises that the CWA raises money for, such as Aged Care secret Santa; Alzheimer’s Association; Aunty’s Free Feeds; CareFlight; Darwin hospice; Darwin Youth Services; Dawn House; Foodbank; Days For Girls; Doctors Without Borders; Down Syndrome Association NT; Freds Pass Rural Show; McGrath Foundation; playgroups; Australian Red Cross; Royal Darwin Show; Royal Flying Doctor Service; Ruby Gaea Darwin Centre Against Sexual Violence Inc; and many sporting organisations. 

Some of us are familiar with the fundraising activities of the CWA which include things like market stalls selling jams and preserves; craft fairs; high teas; raffles; and other stalls at shows across the Territory. Many items are sold to fundraise and many of them are handmade by members through knitting, crocheting, sewing and other methods. There is also catering prepared by CWA members themselves. 

Still, a lot of the CWA’s work is donated. Some of its creations such as knee blankets, teddy bears, beanies and booties for premature babies are donated to hospitals on a regular basis. 

The CWA also functions as a learning centre; it is not just about jams and preserves. It has a program where it looks at countries to study, and this year CWA is looking at Denmark. Its members are learning Danish embroidery and pickles, amongst other things. It is about cultural education and the promotion of cross-cultural exchange. 

It was my enormous privilege to be invited recently, along with the Member for Fannie Bay, to a special event at the CWA NT offices in Fong Lim—a high tea featuring as the guest of honour the Governor-General, Her Excellency Sam Mostyn AC. It was a beautiful event. The Governor-General looked at the quilts and crochet poppies being created for remembrance of war and animals that died at war. 

We all got to take a look at the ‘Territory Icons in Thread’ project, which CWA members have been working on in partnership with women in remote communities for some time. It culminated in the Governor-General being gifted a CWA history book from the NT which, as a neat segue to its country of study being Denmark this year, the CWA was able to gift to the Danish royals recently down south. I thought that was a nice touch.

My gratitude goes to the outgoing president, Judy Anictomatis OAM, for inviting me to that special event. 

I also point out one special person who was there that day, Nancy Fuchs. She is the oldest member of the CWA in Darwin; she is 96 years old. She is so special to me because Nancy Fuchs and her husband, Peter Fuchs, were the reason my family ended up in Australia in 1971. Her husband, Peter Fuchs, was the Swiss Consul-General and an engineer and hydrologist who befriended my grandfather when he came here to work on the Snowy Mountains. After war broke out in Bangladesh, they were kind enough to take in my grandparents and their three kids, the eldest of whom was my mum. To this day we have maintained a connection with the Fuchs family. It was wonderful to see Nancy there alongside her daughters, Jackie and Ann. 

Sadly, Nancy had a fall just after that event and is currently at RDH with a broken leg, so I wish her all the best. I hope you got the flowers; I shall see you sometime soon at Pearl. 

There is a serious social advocacy side to the Country Women’s Association; it focuses on issues facing women and families across the Territory. With that in mind, it was my privilege to be a small part of the CWA International Women’s Day 2026 event, ‘Balance the Scales’, where it raised $6,000 for Top End Women’s Legal Service, a noble cause. I was pleased to make a modest contribution to allow a table of women from Fong Lim to attend that event, who maybe otherwise would not have been able to make it. 

I am grateful to Rachael Shanahan who invited me to collaborate on that event with her. We planned to hold it in my electorate office like last year, but it was too big an event and, ultimately, it got much nicer digs. I also congratulate Rachael on having recently been elected the new incoming president of the CWA NT. She will do a fantastic job and is a wonderful person in her own right. 

The CWA is about a lot more than tea and scones; it is prudent to remember that. That tagline appears on its own website in jest, but as the 90-plus guests who attended the International Women’s Day event on 8 March 2026 learnt from the speakers that day, the CWA continues—usually quietly and without fuss—to keep supporting women and families in the Territory. CWA members are, no doubt, doing work to help people through floods and weather events as well. I am simply not aware of the work yet, or I would call it out directly. 

That is the kind of organisation it is and the work it does in earnest. The CWA does serious work, not just pickles, preserves and tea. 

The Darwin branch helped families in 1930 when the Channel Island Leprosarium was up and running to look after people who would otherwise not be looked after. It is a noble organisation. In the words of Dr Valerie Asche AM, a former CWA NT patron and later president, ‘Everywhere, the organisation has made lives brighter and better. It has reached out a compassionate, gentle and practical hand to help give where it has been needed. It has made Australia a better place by constantly using its influence and its resources to argue for improved conditions of life.’ 

Long may the CWA Northern Territory branch continue its fine work.