Margi collects 2018 Emma Miller Award

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 123 No 7, 5 October 2018, page no. 4

Margi Malezer has been presented with the 2018 Emma Miller Award in recognition of her work on behalf of the QTU.

Hosted by the Queensland Council of Unions, the awards celebrate the achievements of contemporary union women and recognise rank and file female members for their commitment to and achievements within their union.

Margi is a QTU Lead Union Rep in the Far North Queensland region and holds positions on the Peninsula Area Council and State Council. She has become a familiar face in the Cairns community, campaigning for better funding of state schools, lobbying in Canberra, undertaking media interviews, attending rallies and street stalls and hitting the phones for Fair Funding Now!, Change the Rules, Stand for Queensland, and various state and federal elections.

In 2016, Margi, who is of the Gubbi Gubbi and Kamilaroi peoples, was the first member to be elected to the tagged Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Executive position and contributed to the development of the Union’s first reconciliation action plan. 

Margi’s leadership qualities in advocating for change and the empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members were highly influential in the QTU’s decision to transfer the Gandu Jarjum Committee to its current Indigenous-only membership and securing changes to Union Rules that empowered the committee to elect its chair from within its members.

The awards are named in honour of Emma Miller, a strong advocate for workers’ and women’s rights in Queensland during the last century. She was a foundation member of the Australian Labor Party, a leader of the women’s suffrage movement, and contributed to the political and social changes that took place during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.