Career
She stood for the division of Hobart as a Labor candidate when sitting member John Soundy retired on 10 May 1952. She was the first Australian woman to lead an upper house of Parliament and the longest serving female politician in Australian political history. Despite her sex, Benjamin was reported as one of the "36 faceless men" reported to be in control of the Australian Labor Party in the lead up to the 1963 Australian federal election.
