Labor stalwart Child 'occupies a noble place in history' - Sydney Morning Herald

Prime Minister Julia Gillard speaks at the state funeral for Joan Child, the first woman to be speaker of the House of Representatives. Photo: Angela Wylie

The Labor and feminist icon, Joan Child, was farewelled at a state funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Ms Child, who died last month aged 91, in 1974 became the first female Labor MP and went on to become Australia's first female Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard halted her five-day campaign in western Sydney to mourn Ms Child at the service at Monash University.

In her eulogy, Ms Gillard described herself as ''one of the women who walked through the door that Joan so brilliantly opened''.

''Joan gave us her example: a smart, confident woman succeeding in the public sphere,'' the Prime Minister said.

In an era where Labor embodied the Australian legend of shearers and dockworkers bonded in the spirit of male mateship, ''it took a remarkable woman to break that mould,'' Ms Gillard said.

''Joan Child was that woman.''

Ms Gillard said Ms Child ''wrote the guidebook'' for women and ''our belief that women can do anything finally came to be realised in our nation's institutions''.

Other guests at the funeral included Governor-General Quentin Bryce and Labor's current female Speaker of the House, Anna Burke.

It was a true Labor farewell. From the poster on the wall – ''ALP: Joan Child for Henty'' – to the music (The Light on the Hill from the Paul Keating musical) that accompanied the projection above the stage of a beaming white-haired woman, head tilted slightly to the left, to the coffin draped in an Australian flag.

But most Labor of all was Ms Child's life story, which was recounted with admiration.

Widowed at 42, Ms Child was left to raise five sons, the youngest of whom was seven years old.

She raised them as a single mother on a widow's pension, which she augmented by doing cleaning and factory work. She taught herself to drive and to do the home repairs that were then seen as men's work, the celebrant said.

As the celebrant pointed out, even if Ms Child's life story ended there it would be worth celebrating.

But then Ms Child began her political career. She went into politics ''for the best and noblest reasons'', and now, she ''occupies a proud and noble place in the unfolding of Australian history''.