In writing my most recent book, Like Fire-Hearted Suns, I came to understand that the women who fought for our right to vote truly understood the value of persistence when pursuing their goals. Depending on what country they were in, it took years or decades before women could vote on the same terms as men – and shamefully even longer in Australia for First Nations people.

Much of what these women learnt to do involved coming back again and again, and turning up even when it seemed impossible. It was this perseverance that won them the game in the end.