Real need for more women in Australian political system

It would be interesting to know the number of women who actually aspire to be part of such an arena but prefer to avoid it.

Member for Curtin Julie Bishop announces she will not be contesting the seat of Curtin in the upcoming 2019 Federal Election in the House of Representatives at Parliament House, in Canberra, Thursday, February 21, 2019. (AAP Image/Sam Mooy) NO ARCHIVING. Picture: SAM MOOY

AS MOST would concede, politics can be both challenging and dirty, (women who have endured much, like Pauline Hanson and Julia Gillard, the latter a founding member of Emily's List, come to mind).

It would be interesting to know the number of women who actually aspire to be part of such an arena but prefer to avoid it, thanks to its aggressively adversarial nature.

Julie Bishop was certainly a stand-out, as noted in 'Sorry to see her go' (Daily, February 25).

The women who do make it in the LNP, do so without a union apprenticeship, nor being a member of such an organisation as Emily's List.

Hopefully women who have been through the tough school of Canberra, people like Ms Bishop and Kelly O'Dwyer, will see fit to mentor other women candidates who are pre-selected and go forward as eventual candidates for entry to Parliament.

There is a very real need for women to be in there advocating for all issues, but particularly those where women may have been severely overlooked and misrepresented in the past.

CLAIRE JOLLIFFE

Buderim