Point of order from ‘Madam Murphy’

COUNCILLOR Ryan Murphy had to correct his colleagues on an embarrassing gaffe that just won’t go away.

Cr Ryan Murphy is the first male to chair a council meeting since 2008. Picture: Brisbane City Council.

FOR a 29-year-old man, Ryan Murphy takes being called “madam” very well.

He’s the first man to chair a Brisbane City Council meeting since 2008, and it’s confusing some councillors.

Cr Murphy was appointed deputy chairman in June, under chairman Angela Owen, but four months later his fellow councillors still struggle to address him by the right gender.

Last Tuesday, opposition leader Peter Cumming called Cr Murphy “madam chair” so many times the exasperated deputy took him to task.

“You will use my correct title: deputy chairman,” Cr Murphy said.

Even after the reminder, Cr Cumming called him “madam chair” three more times in the same speech, while the Lord Mayor had to correct himself twice later in the debate.

Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner and independent Cr Nicole Johnston also called Cr Murphy “madam chair”.

Cr Murphy said councillors have been “bundling up ‘madam’ and ‘chairman’ for ten years” and meant no offence by their mistakes.

“Normally it’s women who are breaking the glass ceiling and it’s quite bizarre for a man to be doing so — even if a man has done it before.”

“I think it’s actually quite interesting for the shoe to be on the other foot,” he said.

Civic cabinet members and the chairman of council are called “chairman” whether they are male or female, but Cr Murphy waved off the suggestion his lot would be easier if the council used gender neutral titles.

“I don’t think any of the councillors are, in principal, are against adopting more gender neutral language. It’s just none of them really want to,” he said.

“They’re all happy with the title being Madam Chairman.”

Cr Murphy said the confusion over his title was proof that the LNP in Brisbane had a strong record attracting female talent and putting them in top positions.

He said the perception the LNP had a problem with women was “odd” given the administration “had almost as many women as men”.

There are seven women in the 20-strong LNP administration, including the Lord Mayor, and of the seven civic cabinet portfolios, three are held by women.

“And as we’ve seen now, the chair of council has been occupied by women in the past ten years so certainly the LNP in Brisbane has never had a problem with attracting and maintaining female talent,” Cr Murphy said.