Australian senator Larissa Waters — and her 3-month-old daughter — are breaking glass ceilings in Parliament.
The politician breastfed her daughter, Alia Joy, while addressing her fellow lawmakers in the chamber on Thursday.
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.
Waters said at the time that she wishes it wasn’t news to see a woman breastfeeding in Parliament.
“Well I think it’s slightly ridiculous that feeding one’s baby is international news — women have been breastfeeding for as long as time immemorial,” Waters said. “But in another sense, this is the first time this has happened in our Parliament in 116 years, so it’s definitely world history-making.”
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“I had hoped to not only feed my baby, but also to send a message to young women that they belong in the Parliament, and that they can be both Parliamentarians and be moms.”
Waters still had plenty of critics after nursing on Thursday. She later tweeted out an explicit, typo-filled text message saying it was “not a good look” for her to breastfeed during her motion. However, Waters wasn’t concerned, adding an “Lol” in response.