The event that will change the trajectory of Australian women in politics - Women's Agenda

The event that will change the trajectory of Australian women in politics

Last night I attended the very first bi-partisan Women in Politics event. It was hosted by Sophie Mirabella and Nicholas Reece at Melbourne University and the panel included former speaker Anna Burke, Federal MP Kelly O’Dwyer, Victorian MP Mary Wooldridge and the newly appointed Victorian state minister Jane Garrett.

That the event was planned in the first place speaks volumes about the current climate. Every panellist observed that there is genuine momentum building around the importance of female representation in politics right now. And with good reason.

As Sophie Mirabella pointed out in Australia women make up a little less than a third of all parliamentarians and one fifth of all ministers. According to the UN one-third is the minimum level necessary for women to be able to influence decision making in parliament.

One graph in particular drew a collective gasp from the audience. Australia’s ranking for female representation in national parliament paints a clear picture: the steep decline is explained by the fact other parliaments around the world have raced ahead on this issue while we have moved backwards.

Source: Compiled from Inter-Parliamentary Union, Women in national parliaments archive 

Mary Wooldridge said change only happens when there is a case for it and she says right now there is a “felt need” for change in the Liberal party driven in part by the Victorian electoral defeat but also the fact there is only a single woman in Cabinet. “Now is the time to drive change,” she said.

The panel were in “heated agreement” about the need for greater female representation and all agreed the litmus test for success will be when there is absolutely nothing notable about female politicians. “I am proud to be part of a Cabinet that is almost 50% female,” Garrett said. “But I want to get to the place where that is normal.”

Anna Burke argued that real progress will be achieved when there is a female heading up the Treasury portfolio. “The day we get our first female treasurer, we’ll have made it. Around the world female treasurers are few and far between,” she said.

Kelly O’Dwyer talked about the double standards that still exist for men and women. In 2009 when she was preselected and then elected at 32 years of age it generated a lot of interest.

“People were saying “It’s just extraordinary! At 32. I said ‘You do know Peter Costello was 32 when he was elected don’t you?’.”

She also spoke about the inevitable scrutiny that women of a certain age are subject to. “One night during a pre-selection all the young men had families and there was a newly married woman without children. She was asked about here future family and not one question like that was asked of the men. It made me furious,” she said. “We have to give equal opportunities to men and women and trust people to do what they need to do and make the decisions they need to.”

The influence of society’s traditional roles for men and women in this regard was discussed. The expectation that a male politician with kids will have a wife to take care of everything on the home front, is not automatically afforded to women even though many female politicians do have partners at home.

The expectation that mothers are responsible for all parenting compounds this. “In effect we turn on ourselves if we only talk about ‘good mothers’,” Jane Garrett said. “We need to talk about good parents.”

She also explained how powerful role modelling in the home is. Her daughter’s reaction to her dad going to a meeting was quite telling. “She said “Daddys don’t go to meetings! Only mums do’.”

On the subject of quotas there wasn’t furious agreement in the room except on one point; that a target or quota on its own is never enough”It’s important to say we have an expectation of as many men and women in positions of power but I don’t think a quota solves everything,” O’Dwyer said.

“The current proportion of women is such a poor reflection of our community representation,” Garrett said. “In Labor quotas have taken us to a better place.”

Mary Wooldridge accepts that quotas work but she said the Liberal party is unlikely to ever embrace them. “We can change this but it will require leadership and commitment.”

She also noted that it’s extraordinary given the empirical economic evidence that greater female representation delivers better results, that we haven’t moved the dial in business.

Anna Burke was also frank in this regard. “Politics is bad for women but business is even worse,” she said.

Sophie Mirabella made an important point too about attracting younger women into politics. “If we don’t get women in parliament in their 30s they won’t have the experience and gravitas to hold the senior roles down the track,” she said.

At the commencement of the panel, everyone in attendance was invited to sign The Melbourne Declaration on Women’s Participation in Australian Politics. The declaration states that we believe the number of women who are parliamentarians, ministers and shadow ministers remains lower than where Australia should be as an advanced democracy.

It includes a commitment – at a minimum – to the ambition “that 40% of party official, parliamentarian, ministerial, shadow ministerial appointments across all political parties and parliaments are women over the next two candidate selection cycles or by 2020, whichever is sooner.”

The stated goal is to change the trajectory of women in politics. I included my signature on the declaration with pride. You can add your name here.

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