29 Jul 2022
Loreto Toorak Alumna Dr Monique Ryan (1984) shines on the 23 July 2022 cover of Good Weekend
Image taken from the 23 July edition of Good Weekend (The Age)
Prior to her first speech to Parliament, Monique was interviewed by Good Weekend about her journey into politics. With accounts from family members and friends, the feature shares Monique’s life journey, from being the 1984 Dux of Loreto Toorak to her election as the Member for Kooyong in the 2022 federal election.
“She was the kind of person who would literally study all night then come along the next day and set the record for 100 metres at the school swimming carnival. I’ve never known her to fail at anything.” – Peter Ryan, older brother to Dr Monique Ryan.
The full feature is available online on The Age website.
In her first speech to Parliament, Monique paid tribute to her Loreto Toorak education, the Loreto Sisters who inspired her and to Mary Ward, the foundress of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), also known as the Loreto Order.
“I received an excellent education at a convent school. The nuns who ran that school were feminists who cared about social justice. Some volunteered in my campaign in Kooyong in 2022. The founder of the Loreto order of nuns, Mary Ward, said in 1612:
“There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things. And I hope in God it will be seen that women in time to come will do much.”
I will be forever grateful to my parents for an education in which it was made clear that I could and should try to do much in my own life. We have in this place an opportunity to support education and to ensure gender equality in all facets of Australian life, which should never be taken for granted.”
It is wonderful to see Mary Ward’s hope for women achieving great things is flourishing amongst our Alumnae. Congratulations Monique!
The full video of her first speech to Parliament is available here: