Miss Wagga Quest entrant Poppy Vandermark drops out over voice to parliament argument

The Miss Wagga Wagga Quest entrant has dropped out of the contest after organisers asked her not to wear a button printed with the word 'yes'.

The organisers told her the badge was a violation of the pageant rules, which forbid contestants from making political statements.

Ms Vandermark said she thinks it was blown out of all proportion. She said she wore the badge while setting up for an event where no members of the public were present.

After the event, Ms Vandermark said she received a message reminding her she was not to make political representations as an entrant.

"I never spoke about it at any point, never pushed my agenda on anyone," she told ACM.

"This was just at a setup - my mum was there, a couple of other contestants and two committee members.

"I can not stand to support this organisation anymore, because it's not developing young women that I would like to see in the community, where we are told we can't stand up for things we care about.

"This is really just a beauty pageant in disguise."

Wiradjuri elder Aunty Cheryl Penrith said she was shocked that something like this could happen on Wiradjuri country.

"I was disappointed, because I thought we were a bit further along the road on this," Aunty Cheryl said.

"I think you would expect the quest would move with the times ... We're proud of Poppy.

"Doing an acknowledgement of country is fine, but if you're not going to follow it up with action, it's a pretty empty thing."

In its response to a letter by Ms Vandermark expressing concerns she was being silenced by the organising committee, it said they had not made any demands of her and were simply enforcing long standing rules of the contests.

"It is very possible that the wearing of any political badge or statement has the potential to offend. It is hoped that you understand there was no personal intention aimed at you," wrote the committee.

"It is hoped all Entrants understand that occasional requests (not demands) are made that they may not agree with, but can appreciate the spirit in which they are made.

"It is then up to each individual to decide for themselves if they are willing to action such requests."

Ms Vandermark claimed that entrants are continually criticised by members of the panel for things as minor as publicly mentioning they've received makeup training as part of the pageant.

She claimed the message she received came across as 'passive aggressive', and was clearly intended to stop her advocating for something she thinks should be above politics.

"They like to publicly humiliate us on group messages, the extreme unweighted feedback they give us - we're always doing something wrong," she said.

"I really interpreted that quite passive aggressively, because they're really quite passive aggressive in a lot of their texts.

"It really forced me to reflect on the way they were asking contestants to be silent about things they truly care about - whether they're political or not."

Miss Wagga Wagga Quest has been an institution in the Riverina for 76 years.

According to their website, the Miss Wagga Wagga Quest is about empowering women.

"The Miss Wagga Wagga Quest has enhanced the lives of many young women, empowering them to achieve their dreams and goals and represent our city," it says.

"The Miss Wagga Wagga Quest offers young women an opportunity to improve their confidence and learn valuable leadership and life skills."

Ms Vandermark said the experience entrants gained speaking to the public was valuable, but their actions showed they were more interested in creating women who are polite, pretty, and apolitical.

While the language around the pageant has changed, she said this demonstrates the conservative attitudes that dominated it in its early years are alive and well.

"We're taught that in order to be a confident and successful leader in Wagga Wagga, you have to be a woman who is silent, smiling up the front looking pretty, wearing the right clothes and working the room in an agreeable and respectable manner," she said.

"I was told - with eyes rolled - I was not the first person to use a political handle to bring down the quest.

"The quest doesn't want to hear from women who have knowledge and opinions that might make Wagga a better place ... the most in depth conversation I've had all year was about napkins."

Miss Wagga Wagga Quest's handbook stipulates the contest is apolitical, and entrants are not allowed to advocate for political issues.

Committee chair Ali Tanner said Ms Vandermark's accusations were untrue and she was never told to do anything.

She said there were members of the wider public at the event and more than one person mentioned the badge to her.

"It's nothing to do with the voice to Parliament. When someone wears a badge, regardless of what it says, it could be offensive," Ms Tanner said.

"Anything designed to influence somebody's vote in a national referendum has got to be at least a little bit political, don't you think?

"It's my role to protect and care for all the entrants ... I don't like to publicly humiliate anyone, ever."

Ms Tanner said it was not a pageant but a quest, and there were no contestants, only entrants.

Aunty Cheryl said it was important for people living on Wiradjuri country to remember the philosophy of Yindyamarra.

"Yindyamarra is respect for self, respect for others, and respect for country," she said.

"I think a lot of focus will be on us as Wiradjuri people today, with Michael Long coming to town ... they should come and have a yarn."

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