C&P'd from Meeps excellent post 53:
"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 โ men and women alike โ 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."
Surely the people howling "sexist" here didn't think Mr Abbott was going to sack senior and experienced members of his team to make room for a sprinkling of token women, however capable, to take their place simply to appease the feminist faction?
Such tokenism is no way to gain respect from your constituents, as we've seen from the previous government.
Does anyone remember the roughshod way Ms Gillard in her "captains pick" bulldozed Trish Crossin into the ground in her haste to appoint Nova Peris as the token "first Indigenous Labor representative in the federal parliament"? Poor Nova didn't know what hit her!
Julia Gillard's push for Nova Peris sets off week of brawls
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