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[Handwritten note top left corner: illegible + 1wy]

[Stamp in red ink centre top page: Received 25 Sep 1974 Prime Minister's Office M.C.U.]

[Handwritten different hand]

[Right corner: P.O Box 25 Miriwinni 4871. Q'ld [sic] 19th September 1974.]

Dear Elizabeth Reid,

Members of the Miriwinni C.W.A watched and listened to, with great interest and indeed pleasure, the interview that you gave to the Current Affairs Program, Today Tonight, on Wednesday 18th September. The program dealt with the Budget allocation of $2,000,000 to help women.

Miriwinni is the centre of a small farming district on the Bruce Highway eighty kilometres south of Cairns. It consists of a grocery store, Service Station, the usual country hotel, Post Office, a few houses, a saw mill and our C.W.A Hall.

The women in this village and its surrounds do feel culturally deprived. Here we have no Art Gallery, no Library, no museum. The members of the Miriwinni C.W.A have discussed this matter on several occasions and the discussion has always ended in agreement – we can do nothing about it because we cannot raise enough money.

However, we do have our C.W.A Hall, drab and in need of painting and repairs. Here we meet for our monthly meetings, handicraft lessons, socials and fund raising projects.

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The women of the district enjoy these functions which for them means a break, not only from the monotony of house work, but in lots of cases the hard manual work of the farm where they work beside their husbands.

As the hall is C.W.A property, members of the organisation are responsible for its upkeep. At the present time we are finding this a very difficult responsibility.

The younger women of the district would like to join our organisation, but they are mostly the mothers of very young children whom they must bring with them and they point out that the ground surrounding the hall is not securely enough fenced to keep their children from straying out to the railway line behind or the road in front.

For this same reason they cannot attend social function in our hall.

We should be grateful if we could have just enough of that $2,000,000 to build a fence that would be safe, practical and also an adornment.

We would no wish any of our drabness on your beautiful Canberra but we would be very happy if you would enable us to have a little but of Canberra style in Miriwinni.

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Now, if I may add a personal comment. I heartly endorse the Prime Ministers choice of 'An Advisor on Women's Affairs'[.] Your performance on T.V. was excellent.

Yours sincerely

Dulcie Menzel

Hon. Secretary Miriwinni C.W.A