Scott Morrison starts at a disadvantage with women voters

Female voters have the power to make or break an election – just ask Gladys Berejiklian, but Clare Armstrong explains why Scott Morrison has no such advantage.

Female voters have the power to make or break an election campaign – just ask Gladys Berejiklian.

Ahead of the 2019 NSW election, then-premier Berejiklian’s team identified women aged 35 to 54 with children as a critical voting bloc, though one largely indifferent to the campaign. Using almost apolitical messages to sell her policies, Ms Berejiklian was able to engage and then move these women into her corner — a strategy even her own team credits in part for her victory.

But ahead of the 2022 federal election, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has no such starting point.

Female supporters posing outside Gladys Berejiklian’s office following her resignation. Picture: Richard Dobson

This is partly due to the stressors exacerbated by the pandemic but also because the Coalition put many Australian women off-side in the wake of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins going public about her alleged rape in parliament.

Initially some Liberal insiders were buoyed to learn focus groups showed it was mostly the already out-of-reach younger, tertiary-educated women put off by the fallout.

But in assuming the electoral impact was defined by women’s opinions of the allegations about parliamentary culture, these focus groups missed the larger issue at play.

There are several reasons why Prime Minister Scott Morrison may struggle with women voters. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Perhaps not all female voters felt the government could or should have done more for Ms Higgins but what they did recognise was a culture of behaviour that extended far beyond the walls of parliament, into their own homes, workplaces and neighbourhoods.

This sentiment was eventually acknowledged by Mr Morrison but he has never returned to totally neutral ground.

In seeking the support of undecided female voters, bold pitches for childcare, boosting the retirement savings of women, ensuring their safety in the community and offering a bright future for their children will be key.

But who women decide has the best suite of policies for them, will be as much down to how the message is presented as what it contains.