Yesterday Jane Gilmore wrote about the need for an Australian Women’s Party. Inspired by the Women’s Equality Party in the UK and its leader Sophie Walker, with a dedicated focus on six areas including equal representation in politics and business, equal pay and an end to violence against women, Jane asked for expressions of interest for a similar party here.
Unsurprisingly the idea seemed to resonate with readers. Last night Kath Kenny sent a tweet asking for suggestions for an all-women dream team and it sparked quite a few responses.
Some of the suggestions so far include:
- Jane Caro as Minister for Education
- Clementine Ford as Minister for Men (With Tony Abbott as the minister assisting the minister for men)
- Marcia Langton as Minister for Indigenous Affairs
- Gillian Triggs as Attorney General or Immigration
- Heather Ridout as Minister for Industry and Science
- Gail Kelly for Treasurer
- Judith Lucy as Minister for anything
- Ita Buttrose as Minister for Communication
These are a few of my ideas:
- Ellyse Perry, Layne Beachley & Liz Ellis as Joint Ministers for Sport
- Professor Fiona Stanley as Minister for Health
- Cate McGregor as Minister for Defence
- Elizabeth Ann McGregor as Minister for the Arts
- Natasha Stott-Despoja as Foreign Minister
- Liz Broderick as Minister for Gender Equality
- Wendy McCarthy as Minister for Early Childhood Education & Care
- Pip Marlow, Maile Carnegie & Karen Stocks as Joint Ministers for Technology
- Anne Summers as Minister for Eradicating violence against women
- Tara Moss as Minister for Children
- Annabel Crabb as Speaker of the House (I’m assuming our party will have the majority in Parliament)
I’m also thinking we’re going to need a few taskforces for specific issues.
Violence against women: Rosie Batty, Tracy Howe, Heather Nancarrow, Karen Willis, Moo Baulch
Equal Pay: Marian Baird, Rae Cooper, Helen Conway
Workplace Diversity: Lisa Annese, Avril Henry, Ann Sherry
Indigenous Affairs: Megan Davis, Nareen Young, Celeste Liddle
So, who would you include in your dream team?
For the purposes of this exercise let’s exclude anyone who is currently serving in a political party*. Whilst there are plenty of talented female politicians, admittedly most of whom are left out of Cabinet, this is a new platform. Start dreaming and share your ideas.
*With the exception of Bronwyn Bishop who would be a top contender for Minister for Transport. I couldn’t help myself.