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When the freshly-elected parliament returns to Canberra next month, the Labor party will have 27 female Members of Parliament stepping onto the floor of the lower house. The Liberal party, by contrast will have only 13 women M.P.s. Now, the Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop has come out and said the lack of elected women in the Liberal party needs looking at.
“It is an issue for us, but we will continue to ensure that women are not only pre-selected but elected and promoted,” Bishop has told ABC T.V.
Bishop, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs, says she thinks the introduction of plebiscites in individual seats, which would allow rank and file members of the Liberal party to vote to pre-select candidates, is worth consideration.
“I think there are a number of issues we can look at such as plebiscites to ensure that we get a broad cross-section of views and women will rise to the top that way,” she said.
“The more women who take leadership roles in the Liberal Party that will mean more women will be inspired to make politics a career.’
The Labor party aims to have an equal 50-50 split of male and female M.P.s by 2025 and has a quota system to support female candidates in winnable seats.
