Clip description
The great granddaughter of Biddy O’Shea has flown to the Northern Territory station run by Frank Morrison, great grandson of James, to talk about their future together, but they disagree about his ‘prehistoric’ views of a woman’s role. Frank (Franklyn Bennett) is a federal MP, who sees his future on the land in the harshest part of the country. His speech to Parliament helps Biddy Parry (Peggy Maguire) make up her mind to share that life.
Curator’s notes
One of the least successful aspects of the film is its tendency to speechify – but in this scene, it’s at least in the context of Federal Parliament, where Frank Morrison is an MP. It’s interesting that they argue over the woman’s role. Even if Biddy’s argument doesn’t get very far, it’s a continuation of a struggle between genders that goes on throughout the film – starting with the scene in which Biddy O’Shea demands her independence 150 years earlier (clip one).