Lara Pullen

Lara Pullen first became involved in politics in 1986 when she was 17 years old and living in Cooma, NSW. Since then she has moved to Canberra and has worked in rape crisis and domestic violence centres and in the community housing sector and has been active in the left and Aboriginal movements in Canberra.

"Feminism means action and not just talk. It means putting ideas about women's rights into practice. It's about all women and not just some women. Feminism should not be elitist.

"Initially it was a cultural and a comfortable thing for me, but later it became much more political and led me to question my whole being and my whole background. It led me to rediscover my Aboriginal heritage, although trying to pursue this was very hard because of a lack of Aboriginal women in the women's movement. At the time I was virtually fully involved in separatist feminism but had to leave that behind.

"Feminism is not just about the past but is about making links with other movements so that we can have permanent social change."

From GLW issue 3