By Lisa Cox
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says it would be ideal to have a cabinet in which 50 per cent of ministers were women, but that standard won't be met in Australia until women are better represented in Parliament.
Mr Turnbull made the remarks after new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a gender-equal cabinet overnight by appointing women to half of his government's cabinet posts.
Mr Trudeau was making good on an election promise and said on Wednesday his reason for doing so was simple: "Because it's 2015".
In his frontbench reshuffle after September's leadership spill, Mr Turnbull increased the number of women in cabinet from two to five, but they are still vastly outnumbered by men.
"Fifty-fifty the ideal": Malcolm Turnbull with the female members of his cabinet.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
"In an ideal world you would have 50-50 but we don't have 50-50 men and women in the Parliament," Mr Turnbull told ABC radio in Melbourne on Thursday.
"The fundamental problem at the root of the issue is this: there are not enough women in the House of Representatives [and] in the Senate."
He said parties needed to do more to encourage women to stand for pre-selection and pointed to the importance of female role models, whether they be politicians or sport stars such as Australia's first woman to ride the Melbourne Cup winner, Michelle Payne.
"In my government, we have the first woman defence minister, Marise Payne. We have the first woman to be the minister for revenue, the Assistant Treasurer in Kelly O'Dwyer... What a great role model she is. She has a young baby, a nursing mother and she is in charge of the whole tax system," Mr Turnbull said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with punters on Melbourne Cup day in North Sydney.Credit: Peter Rae
He said he hoped such examples would encourage more women to throw their "hat in the ring and have a go."
"As that happens, more will get into parliament and more will be in cabinet," he said.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday.Credit: Luis Ascui
Mr Turnbull also responded to Labor leader Bill Shorten's proposal to consider lowering the voting age to 16.
He described Mr Shorten's idea as a "thought bubble" and not something that interested most Australians.
"I don't see a lot of interest in it in the community. It is not something that gets raised with me," he said.
"I think that was a bit of a thought bubble on his part. I am very happy to debate about it if he wants to but it is not something that has been raised with me as I get around the country."