Federal election 2022: Julie Bishop says Coalition failed women, Grace Tame tweets
Julie Bishop says Australian women sent a powerful message to the Coalition as Grace Tame reacts to Anthony Albanese’s win.
Federal Election
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Australian women have sent a powerful message to the Liberal-National coalition, former high-profile conservative Julie Bishop says.
“(Liberal women) did not see their concerns and interests reflected in a party led by Scott Morrison in coalition with Barnaby Joyce,” she told the Nine Network on Saturday.
“Seeing female, independent candidates likely to replace MPs in formerly strong Liberal seats sent a powerful message, Ms Bishop said.
“We have not mentioned at this point the impact of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, they changed the narrative when they exposed an ugly side to the workplace in Canberra,” Ms Bishop said.
“That resonated with women.”
Tame tweeted her reaction to Australia’s “tireless campaigners” in light of Anthony Albanese’s election victory.
“Hate lost. Hope won. But we aren’t done,” she tweeted.
To the tireless campaigners, the humble head-down hard-workers, to the erased, the silenced, the outcast, and the unheard under and unpaid underdogs who get little or no recognition, this one’s for you.
— Grace Tame (@TamePunk) May 22, 2022
You are the lifeblood of change.
Hate lost. Hope won. But we aren’t done.
It comes after teal independent Monique Ryan said she hadn’t received a call from Treasurer Josh Frydenberg yet to concede the seat as of 8.30am on Sunday.
Mr Frydenberg has since confirmed he will not concede until postal votes are counted.
“Well, I’m feeling great. We aren’t calling it a win just yet, because I haven’t received a call from Mr Frydenberg at all just yet, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but it does feel like the climate has changed in Kooyong,” she told ABC Breakfast on Sunday.
“I’m hoping that things will continue on as they have along the same sort of trend, that we will end up with a 53-54 per cent. two-party preferred position.”
She quoted Hunters and Collectors song Holy Grail.
“Woke up this morning from the strangest dream.. I was in the biggest (teal) army that the world has ever seen. We were marching for ... so many things. And now it begins.”
Dr Ryan said she thought the rise of the independents would become permanent in elections.
“I think that this is going to be a permanent sort of a change, not just a protest against one thing, it’s a statement of position and what the electorate of Kooyong wants from its elected representative from now on.”
Dr Ryan earlier told the Nine Network she was “excited to have the opportunity to make things better in Canberra for the people of Kooyong and the people of Australia”.
When asked by Nine how she felt to be the first woman to represent Kooyong, Dr Ryan said having more women in Parliament would “improve the tenor of discussion”.
“I’ve been saying to people throughout this campaign I wouldn’t let my 21-year-old daughter work in Parliament House because I wouldn’t be able to feel secure she was safe there.
“I think that having more women there and more women who are not career politicians, who have life experience in other important sectors like health will improve the tenor of political discussion, hopefully, in this country.
“And that will bring a degree of pragmatism and less partisanship that will improve the political conversation for the nation.”
It comes as a teal shockwave has swept across inner Melbourne and Sydney with female independents set to oust five Liberal male MPs in traditional blue-ribbon conservative seats.
Professional women backed by millionaire businessman Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 fund have swept into parliament on a climate action and integrity platform.
The Liberals were set to lose five inner-city MPs from their moderate wing as the women teals stormed into parliament, with Mr Frydenberg the highest-profile scalp.
In scenes reminiscent of the rise of the Australian Democrats at the height of their power in the 1990s and early 2000s, women with medical, legal, journalistic and business backgrounds ousted centrist, moderate Liberals to claim a major portion of the crossbench in the House of Representatives.
“While it’s mathematically possible we win in Kooyong it’s definitely difficult,’’ Mr Frydenberg told supporters on Saturday, in what he described as his “last press conference as Treasurer.’’
Tim Wilson in nearby Goldstein lost his seat to teal independent Zoe Daniels.
Ms Daniels said she went to Canberra as “an honest broker from the crossbench’’ to advance the interests of her electorate. She said if that meant working with fellow independents, “then sure’’ but that she would also work with either major party as required.
In NSW, Dave Sharma was ousted by Allegra Spender in the inner-Sydney seat of Wentworth, while Trent Zimmerman lost his seat of North Sydney to Kylea Tink.
And Jason Falinski was expected was lose his seat of Mackellar to teal Sophie Scamps.
The success of the teals shocked the Liberal Party, and seems to have secured Queensland MP Peter Dutton a rails run to the Liberal leadership, with his only rival to replace Scott Morrison, Mr Frydenberg, taken out of the race.
Former Australian Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja said the rise of the “independent, professional women’’ was a “brutal and appropriate wake-up call’’ to the Coalition.
“The collapse in the women’s vote for the Coalition is incredibly significant,’’ she said.
Ms Stott Despoja said there were “strong parallels’’ between the teals and the Australian Democrats, who had supported and promoted women in the ‘80s and ‘90s.
“What a time to be an independent or minor-party candidate,’’ she said.
“Zoe Daniel’s tribute to Vida Goldstein warmed my heart. I shed a tear. It was fitting and beautiful.
“My political life has been about encouraging women – in all our diversity and difference – to run for office. Tonight, I feel the future is bright.’’
The teal women, who shot to power after two years of concern about the treatment of women in political life, are all strong, experienced professionals with serious careers.
Ms Spender is a prominent Sydney businesswoman and the daughter of famed Australian fashion designer, the late Carla Zampatti.
Ms Tink is a businesswoman, consultant and former CEO of cancer charities Camp Quality and the McGrath Foundation. Dr Scamps is a general practitioner from Narrabeen GP, a former Mona Vale Hospital emergency doctor, and the founder of a community-run waste and carbon reduction NGO.
Giant-killer Dr Ryan was director of neurology at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, who pioneered new treatments for childhood nerve and muscle disorders. Ms Daniels worked in journalism for 30 years, including as a foreign correspondent.
“We started because we wanted action on climate change and we felt that it was the most important challenge of our time,” Dr Ryan told supporters.
“It bloody well is. Our government was not listening to us, so we have changed the government.”
She said she hadn’t written a victory speech – “and this is not a victory speech” – but said thank you to all her supporters.
While the result in Western Australia was coming late, another teal independent, Kate Chaney, was posing a serious threat to Liberal Celia Hammond in the seat of Curtin.
Ms Chaney, a lawyer and consultant, comes from a blue blood WA family. Her father Michael is WA business royalty and current chairman of Wesfarmers. Her uncle Fred was a minister in the Fraser government and former deputy leader of the Liberal Party.
The teals join a crossbench that already comprises six out of the 151 seats in the House of Representatives.
Zali Steggall, who won the seat of Warringah from Tony Abbott in 2019 and has since joined the teal grouping, said she hoped to see more “community independents’’ join parliament.
“Cost-of-living issues but also climate change, simply did not feature in the policies and platforms from the major parties and in particular from Scott Morrison,’’ she said.
Ms Steggall has previously indicated she would find it more difficult to deal with the Coalition if Mr Morrison remained leader.
As well as Ms Steggall, four other independent incumbents were returned – Bob Katter in Kennedy, Helen Haines in India, Rebekha Sharkie in Mayo, Andrew Wilkie in Clark, as well as Greens leader Adam Bandit in Melbourne. Ms Sharkie, Ms Steggall and Ms Haines all hold seats that were previously safe Liberal seats.
The Liberal Party’s most prominent former MP, ex foreign minister Julie Bishop, said a win to the teals would “eat the heart out’’ of the Liberal Party.
“In the main, (the seats the independents are targeting) are held by more moderate voices, yet those voices have not been able to dominate against the Scott Morrison, Barnaby Joyce, Peter Dutton Coalition,” she told Nine. “They are on very fertile ground, but it would be eating the heart out of the Liberal Party if we lost any of those heartland seats.”
Conservative critics have derided the teals as “fake independents’’ and accused Mr Holmes a Court, the son of Australia’s first billionaire, corporate raider Robert Holmes a Court, of being a puppet master.
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