White hot fury of women draws thousands to Parliament House

There were long lines to pay for parking, portaloos in place and patrons dutifully checking in with the Check In CBR app on arrival.

But the crowd wasn't there for entertainment. They were galvanised by anger, united at the March 4 Justice march by their disgust at the allegations which had come out of the building that was right in front of them.

Men and women in corporate dress mingled with mothers with children, older couples, university students and high school students.

There were people who were familiar with the art of the protest, including unionists, feminists and climate activists.

But there was a large part of the crowd who had never attended a rally before and many who had travelled interstate to send their message directly to those who needed to hear it.

Jennifer Macey decided on Sunday night to drive her daughters Esther, 7, and Billie, 9, from Wollongong to the capital for a demonstration of democracy in action. "Girls rule the world" and "all girls are strong", their handmade placards read.

"When I was at uni, I went to my first reclaim the night rallies," Ms Macey said.

"There are all these concurrent conversations happening, you know, in the UK and in Australia and the US and Europe. I just feel a bit exhausted that we're still talking about it."

Sue McKinnon looked as if she stepped out of 1911 with her long tartan skirt, wide-lapelled jacket and white gloves. She learned from the early days of her climate activist career that dressing up injected the crowd with a bit of colour and entertainment.

She said her car ride from Sydney seemed shorter than usual and Goulburn's roadside food outlets were swamped with women wearing black.

Ms McKinnon may have looked jovial, posing for many pictures with her sign, but as a woman in her 50s, she felt betrayed by the slow rate of progress.

"When I was at university it seemed like the world was changing so much," she said.

"It turns out it's exactly the same. Is it any different for my daughters?"

Josie Marr drove from Melbourne to rally with her Sydneysider friend, Sarah Gatta, motivated to attend her first protest by her outrage at the allegations of sexual assault within Parliament House.

"It's tiring, seeing the same thing happen over and over again," she said.

"It's now happening in a place that rules us, where we're supposed to be protected."

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Seeing a significant number of men in the crowd made Ms Marr hopeful change was imminent but also scared that if this moment could not change the status quo, nothing would.

Canberran Di Lucas was part of the feminist movement of the late 1970s. She was up front about her desire to smash the patriarchy.

"I've got a very deep rage as a lot of women here do. We shouldn't have to be doing this but we're going to have to be doing it for a while, because they're not going to give up their power easily," she said.

Myrna Ellery was not usually the type to attend a rally but she was so outraged and furious at the treatment of women in parliament she organised a day off work.

"It's about justice for women and women now going, 'Enough. This is just not on any longer'," Mrs Ellery said

"This is a grassroots movement and it's just the beginning."

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