Men in Blue ties.

[jethro_woolfe]

The new Cabinet certainly vindicates former PM Gillards statements regarding "Men in Blue Ties''

one female minister. ms bishop.. the rest are men in blue ties.. dear me, more than half of the population represented by 1 person.. Ms Bishop.. misogyny ++++

[just_me_karen]

Yes there is. It's called the rule of equality.

As the highest level employer in the country, the govt sets the tone for all of us. Tony's ministry says "women aren't good enough"

[icyfroth]

So what are the mix requirements?

50/50?

60/40?

25/75?

I ask simply for enlightenment on the subject TIA.

[**meep**]

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@icyfroth wrote:

who says I think that?

Wouldn't you rather have the necessarily qualified people in the role than gender tokens, be they male or female?

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I'm sure they do actually believe in the importance of having a stable government.

An interesting comment:

Undoubtedly, having only one woman in the senior ministry is a bad look for Tony Abbott. But before we start slinging the "misogyny" word around, let's look at some of the reasons why this has happened.

Over the four years that Abbott was opposition leader, he made virtually no changes to his shadow ministry. This was mostly to convey a sense of stability to the voting public, in contrast to the internal warfare wracking the Labor party. But Abbott's refusal to change his team during that time was also a signal to the young Turks in his party that no agitation or profile-building on their part would be rewarded with a ministerial slot. They were being told – men and women alike – that they had to bide their time. As a result, none were given progression opportunities.

In his quest to frame his first government as one comprised of grownups, Abbott appears determined to continue this sense of stability by still only making minimal changes. This makes sense for continuity too, considering the new ministers will be conversant with the ins and outs of the portfolios they have been shadowing for several years.

In doing so, Abbott will follow previous prime ministers Hawke (1), Keating (1) and Howard (2) in having only a small number of women in his first cabinet. Kevin Rudd set a new standard with four women in his first cabinet, all of whom unarguably got there on merit, and Julia Gillard maintained that standard with the same four women in hers.

While it would be easy, perhaps even intellectually lazy, to seize upon the number of women in Abbott's cabinet as confirmation of his so-called misogyny, it was always going to be a big ask for him to equal the record number of female cabinet ministers appointed by Rudd and Gillard. Who Abbott appoints to the outer ministry and as parliamentary secretaries is a different matter altogether, as well as the manner in which he will foster and promote talented female parliamentarians over time.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/16/women-cabinet-abbott

[just_me_karen]

50/50 would be ideal, given that's the approximate makeup of our population.

Do you disagree?

[jethro_woolfe]

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@**meep** wrote:

In your expert opinion, what should the new Cabinet look like?  Portfolio  ------> ??

---

 I'm not an expert. i doubt such a thing exists apart from the usual self appointed megaphones. no , i'm just a voter who happens to be dismayed by the lack of female representation in the Abbott cabinet. Its a disgrace. He seems to be everything Ms Gillard says he is, and i think the public can't fail to be dismayed too. I have heard a lot of rusted on supporters defend his position, but so what ? they would.

[icyfroth]

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@just_me_karen wrote:
50/50 would be ideal, given that's the approximate makeup of our population.

Do you disagree?

---

I certainly agree that would be ideal.

But what is the requirement in order to govern effectively?

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@icyfroth wrote:

So what are the mix requirements?

50/50?

60/40?

25/75?

I ask simply for enlightenment on the subject TIA.

---

I don't think t is simply a matter of a quota.The undeniable fact is that Tony Abbott believes there is only one woman in his government sufficiently qualified to be in his cabinet. If this is true, then what does it say about the Liberal preselection strategy - are female candidates really chosen more for their sex appeal than their competence - and if it is not true, then what does it say about Tony Abbott.

[master*and*commander]

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@jethro_woolfe wrote:

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@master*and*commander wrote:

You will find that many of the countries which have more women in cabinet in Australia have less men per capita to fill the positions. Reasons being that many of those counties have high expectations that their male population will become involved in their military. You cannot compare countries of such diversity without looking at their cultural structure and economic framework.

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 The other Australian political parties seem to manage OK . that is a lame excuse.

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The likes of Frank Lowry, Paul Ramsay and Gordon Merchant seem to manage OK in the capital growth stakes, by your anaology, every Australian should be able to achieve the same.

[master*and*commander]

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@just_me_karen wrote:
50/50 would be ideal, given that's the approximate makeup of our population.

Do you disagree?

---

Do 50% of the female population aspire to enter politics?

Do women even make up 50% of Australia's paid working population?

[daydream**believer]

who cares as long as they do thier job