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This was published 3 years ago
Snubbed Stoker says rival won top spot by drinking more beer with preselectors
By Lydia Lynch
Australia’s Assistant Minister for Women believes party preselectors did not give her the top spot on the Queensland LNP Senate ticket because her male rival drank beer with them more often.
Amanda Stoker, a rising star in the party’s religious right, lost a hard-fought preselection race against Senate colleague James McGrath this month.
The LNP state council, made up of party leaders, councillors, and federal and state MPs, voted on the ticket order, granting Senator McGrath the coveted first place and relegating Senator Stoker to the still-winnable third spot.
The result was seen as a snub to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was believed to be privately backing Senator Stoker after weeks of turmoil over the treatment of women in Parliament.
In a video obtained by Brisbane Times, Senator Stoker told a Sydney Conservative Forum on Monday night that preselectors needed to be educated “about what you actually need to be a good parliamentarian”.
“We think we know that instinctively just from being out in our communities, but as I learned the hard way in a preselection pretty recently — no,” she told the forum, hosted by the Roseville branch of the Liberal Party.
“Preselectors pretty much just liked who drank beer with them more often.
“So we need, I think, to help our parties to understand the things that are needed to do the job well.”
Scott Morrison with Assistant Minister for Women Amanda Stoker.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Speaking at the forum on the theme “Meritocracy or Quota?“, Senator Stoker said party members needed to “understand that sometimes the right choice will be someone who doesn’t look and sound like you”.
“If we can help our preselectors do that, then our democratic system will do a much better job of attracting people who share our values but are capable of communicating it outside of rooms like this.”
A senior LNP source, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said the senator’s comments proved why she failed to secure the top spot and that she “fundamentally does not understand the LNP or Queensland”.
“She has essentially said to State Council, ‘You are a bunch of uneducated fools who made the wrong choice’,” the source said.
“If anything, these comments prove State Council made the right decision.”
When asked to elaborate on her comments, Senator Stoker told Brisbane Times: “Preselectors have the right to exercise their vote in any way they see fit.
“It is completely reasonable for personal relationships to be an influential factor, especially when they are longstanding,” she said in a statement.
“It is incumbent upon candidates to demonstrate to preselectors how their skills and experience will help them win over new and uncommitted voters, as well as voters who are already committed.”
Senator McGrath did not wish to comment.
Reeling from a national backlash over the handling of a series of sexual harassment and assault allegations in politics, including the case of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, the Coalition has been grappling with how to better represent women in Parliament.
In March Senator Stoker was appointed to the role of Assistant Minister for Women as part of the attempt to reset voters’ perceptions of the Morrison government.