The club,which allows women to visit as guests of male members,refused to share the final numbers. However,theHerald can reveal 693 member votes were cast,with 62 per cent against allowing women members,37 per cent in favour and 1 per cent abstaining.
Potential member Daisy Turnbull,whose father and ancestors have long been members of the club,was dismayed by the result,which she predicted would put the club on “the wrong side of history”.
“I’d hate to be a member trying to explain to his daughters why he believes only their brothers are good enough to be a member of the club,” she told theHerald after being informed of the result.
The irony was not lost on several members of The Australian Club on Tuesday morning as they arrived tovote on the future of the elite men’s institution,and walked past a portrait of the one woman who seems to be most welcome within their sanctuary of masculinity,Queen Elizabeth II.
Most - including former prime minister John Howard - attempted to politely ignore the waiting news crews on Macquarie Street as they made their way behind the doors at No.165 and up the stairs to the members’ private dining room,which was overflowing as members turned up in person to vote on allowing women to become members of the 183-year-old club.
The almost 700 who turned up were not just there on the promise of a sandwich buffet,but also to listen to a long line of members speaking for and against female membership,the crowd spilling over into the adjoining Sir Norman Cowper room,named after the prominent 20th century lawyer who co-founded the firm Allens,where his portrait proudly hangs on the wall.