Women's suffrage (the right to vote in political elections), a right granted to New Zealand women in 1893, made a significant and incontrovertible change to the way we use politics in New Zealand today. It was and continues to be an incredibly important contributor to the development of New Zealand into the diverse, forward-thinking country it is today. Our history pivots around this centuries-old political issue and the long-winded campaign to seek justice for women in the face of prejudice, patriarchy and sexism; those who opposed the Bill believed that politics was "outside of the women's natural sphere of home and family," while the endurance and perseverance of the long-suffering suffragists, the famous Kate Sheppard prominent among them, proves quite the opposite of this notion. Women's suffrage - and the fact that New Zealand was the first country to to grant women the right to vote - is a strong feminist argument around which people can rally in the fight against sexism and misogyny in the 21st century, and given its lasting impact on our political and societal values, the opportunities it has since opened for women, and its fundamental contribution to our identity as a nation, it remains of significance to New Zealanders to this day. Sarah Tribble