Female Premier makes history

BRISBANE - Queensland Governor Quentin Bryce has described the elevation of Anna Bligh to state Premier as a history-shaping event.

Bligh, 47, and her new Cabinet were yesterday officially sworn in by Bryce at a ceremony at Government House.

Bryce, a women's rights pioneer herself, said it was a history-shaping occasion for the state to have its first female premier 78 years after the first woman was elected to the Queensland Parliament.

Irene Longman became the first female member of the Queensland Parliament in 1929 and the third woman elected to any parliament in Australia.

- AAP