topic Re: A 'Single White Female'... in Community Spirit

A 'Single White Female'...

i-need-a-martini — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:19:00 GMT

Other than it being a great movie, it now applies to the description of womens representation in the Australian government.

There are 6 (I think?) Liberal women in Cabinet, yet only one is appointed a Minister. Of the 6, quite a few would have been Ministry material - Sussan Ley and Fiona Nash spring to mind as two quite sensible politicians. Plus there are the 'rising stars' that the Liberal Party trotted out on a regular basis during the campaign - Scott and O'Dwyer.

I'll steer clear of the sexism jibes aimed at Abbott as I think this is another issue. Nor will I buy into the argument that ministers are selected on merit and not gender because we know that sexism is alive and well throughout any high level organisation be it private corporation or government management. So the latter is simply an excuse.

But what I am most interested in is what it says about Liberal candidateship - why is it so male dominated and why are the few women candidates pushed forward so 'flimsy' (for want of a betterword) that Abbott decides that they aren't fit for a ministry position?

Does being a Liberal mean that you are most likely to be male and most likely to vote for a male?

It's quite interesting isn't it?

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

kennedia_nigricans — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:30:59 GMT

uuhhhhmmmm you may have missed it but this quote may explain it

I think it would be folly to expect that women will ever dominate or even approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons

http://whatistherundude.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/20-quotes-from-tony-abbott-to-remind-you-why-he-shouldnt-be-prime-minister/

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

lurker17260 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:33:37 GMT

I don't believe in quotas.

But I also don't believe, in this day and age, that in all the liberal party there is only one woman deemed to be suitable for a ministery.

To me that says there is something wrong with either their recruitment and selection systems or .......

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

i-need-a-martini — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:39:18 GMT

As I said, that is another issue altogether.

I find it interesting that whilst there are record numbers of women lining up for preselection in seats across the country representing Labor, the Greens and the various Independents, the number of Liberal women has declined.

Why?

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

kennedia_nigricans — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 01:42:37 GMT

no, it's not another issue.

it is the same.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

cherry*135 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 02:31:37 GMT

Not much chance of any female Liberal MP's (when there is only 1 to start with) working their way up to be Prime Minister .

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

daydream**believer — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 02:39:08 GMT

I dont care what sex our politicians are

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

cherry*135 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:19:05 GMT

Why would a female with political aspirations want to join the Liberal party?

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

i-need-a-martini — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:23:33 GMT

In 1943, Australia had 2 women in Federal Parliament.

It was in 1976 that a woman was finally given a portfolio. Since then we have had an increasing number of women in Parliament on all sides of the politics.

Until now.

It defies logic really. Hawke, Howard and of course Rudd/Gillard have promoted some amazing women in their governments and many of those womens have become icons in our history.

If the Liberal Party isn't attracting women 'of calibre', shouldn't they be looking inwards right now rather than lamenting the demise of someone as ineffectual as Mirabella? The irony is that Mirabella was specifically promoted without merit as a pretty face who would be sure to win so not sure what that says about the party...

And if anyone realy thinks it doesn't matter, then perhaps they need to give it a little more thought.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

master*and*commander — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:33:55 GMT

Of all the women nurtured by the Labor Government, how many of them lasted long term? How many of them demonstrated long term sustainability? Actually, how many of them demonstrated any kind of ability once they secured their positions?

It's one thing to attract "women of calibre" to fill a position, but quite another to attract one who can do the job evidenced by demonstrative performance once they secure the position.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

cherry*135 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:38:29 GMT

Julia Gillard made it to become the first female Prime Minister of Australia (granted she didn't last the term out), but she had the opportunity to get to the top.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

master*and*commander — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:47:01 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
Julia Gillard made it to become the first female Prime Minister of Australia (granted she didn't last the term out), but she had the opportunity to get to the top.

yes she did, but wouldn't her rather short stay indicate a lack of perception or standards by those who promoted her through the system? Wouldn't that they overestimated her ability to do the job? Or were they just promoting her through for other reasons, say to appear politically correct and fill the job with any woman and she was the best they had?

I don't believe that Gillard was promoted for any other reason than they believed her to be the best person for the job, so on merit, but it doesn't really attest to their accuracy when making judgement calls, does it?

At least when the Americans promoted a minority group member through the system, he was able to demonstrate longevity and proficiency.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

i-need-a-martini — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 03:54:21 GMT

Are you serious?

Leaving aside the current crop of outstanding women in political positions in quite a few different parties, in my recent memory I can recall 4 women who had top portfolios and did incredibly with their positions - Carmen Lawrence, Susan Ryan, Ros Kelly, Helen Coonan. And that was just in Labor. Howards ministry had a top assemby of women too.

If we relatively compared the quality of the very few women in parliament over the years with the quality of the large number of men in parliament over the same period, the women leave the men for dead in terms of demonstraive performance.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

master*and*commander — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:00:16 GMT

@i-need-a-martini wrote:
Are you serious?

Leaving aside the current crop of outstanding women in political positions in quite a few different parties, in my recent memory I can recall 4 women who had top portfolios and did incredibly with their positions - Carmen Lawrence, Susan Ryan, Ros Kelly, Helen Coonan. And that was just in Labor. Howards ministry had a top assemby of women too.

If we relatively compared the quality of the very few women in parliament over the years with the quality of the large number of men in parliament over the same period, the women leave the men for dead in terms of demonstraive performance.

No, I'm just winding you up.

It's good to see someone so passionate and knowledgeable about our country.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

polksaladallie — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:33:51 GMT

@i-need-a-martini wrote:
Are you serious?

Leaving aside the current crop of outstanding women in political positions in quite a few different parties, in my recent memory I can recall 4 women who had top portfolios and did incredibly with their positions - Carmen Lawrence, Susan Ryan, Ros Kelly, Helen Coonan. And that was just in Labor. Howards ministry had a top assemby of women too.

If we relatively compared the quality of the very few women in parliament over the years with the quality of the large number of men in parliament over the same period, the women leave the men for dead in terms of demonstraive performance.

Coonan was a Liberal senator. But there was Cheryl Kernot who held a shadow ministry, and Margaret Reynolds, who held two ministries in her time in the senate.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

cherry*135 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:51:43 GMT

Cheryl Kernot isn't a very good example

Laurie Oakes criticised Kernot for failing to mention her extramarital affair while leader of the Democrats with Gareth Evans, who was a Labor frontbencher and key advocate of her move to Labor. Oakes claimed the relationship began several years before Kernot joined Labor, and ended in October 1999. He made the claim based on leaked emails in his possession that proved Kernot had had a five-year relationship with Evans. Initially, Kernot and Evans made themselves unavailable for comment; however, Evans subsequently confirmed the nature of their relationship.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

polksaladallie — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:00:21 GMT

@am*3 wrote:
Cheryl Kernot isn't a very good example

Laurie Oakes criticised Kernot for failing to mention her extramarital affair while leader of the Democrats with Gareth Evans, who was a Labor frontbencher and key advocate of her move to Labor. Oakes claimed the relationship began several years before Kernot joined Labor, and ended in October 1999. He made the claim based on leaked emails in his possession that proved Kernot had had a five-year relationship with Evans. Initially, Kernot and Evans made themselves unavailable for comment; however, Evans subsequently confirmed the nature of their relationship.

Maybe not, but if we were to eliminate all those with stuff going on behind the door or in the closet, the chamber would be nearly empty.

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

cherry*135 — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:15:49 GMT

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

i-need-a-martini — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:17:36 GMT

You are right. She was Liberal. But as I said, there was a good bunch of Liberal women in the Howard government after the Hawke govt.

Where are all the women now??

Re: A 'Single White Female'...

polksaladallie — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 05:21:01 GMT

@i-need-a-martini wrote:
You are right. She was Liberal. But as I said, there was a good bunch of Liberal women in the Howard government after the Hawke govt.

Where are all the women now??

"Knocking on the door" as abbott says. But to quote someone on radio this morning, "Why was the door closed?"