Leading Australian parliamentarian Larissa Waters created history by breastfeeding her three-and-half-month-old baby while moving a motion in Parliament.
Addressing the house, she spoke about black lung disease, a condition affecting coal miners — while feeding her daughter Alia Joy.
Waters was successfully moving forward a motion to help coal miners after a resurgence of black lung disease.
“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,” Waters, 40, tweeted.
She told BuzzFeed News that it was necessary to breastfeed at that time because, “black lung disease is back among coal miners in Queensland and Alia was hungry”.
In May, Waters became the first to breastfeed in Parliament after returning from a 10-week-long maternity leave. The senator, who is the co-leader of the left-wing Greens party, was key in passing legislation last year allowing parliamentary members to breastfeed in the senate chambers.
I think this is what ppl mean when they talk abt a flexible boss. @RichardDiNatale with @larissawaters new staffer. @ellinghausen pic. pic.twitter.com/e5mrMT5p1p
— Stephanie Peatling (@srpeatling) June 22, 2017
A handful of working mothers have recently made headlines for breastfeeding during their countries' governmental proceedings: As NPR reported, a Spanish MP attracted criticism for parliamentary breastfeeding in 2016, her colleagues calling the move "lamentable" and "frankly unnecessary."
In 2015, an Argentine politician breastfed in her parliament to widespread applause and in 2010, an Italian member of European Parliament — Licia Ronzulli — brought her seven-week-old infant to work.
