Liberal MP Felicity Wilson reveals she has been actively ‘discouraged’ by the party from starting family
A FEMALE politician has questioned how accepting Australia is of mothers in parliament, revealing she was warned by some Liberals not to start a family before the election.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A FEMALE politician has questioned how accepting Australia is of mothers in parliament, revealing she was warned by some Liberals not to start a family before the election.
State MP Felicity Wilson, who is pregnant and wants to encourage women into politics, said women of child-bearing age are at times quizzed in preselection battles about how they will take care of their children if elected to parliament.
The North Shore MP, who has just revealed her pregnancy to her colleagues, said the remarks did not come from her parliamentary colleagues, but instead from parts of the party membership.
“This calendar year I’ve been discouraged from falling pregnant before the next election,” Ms Wilson told The Daily Telegraph.
“I’ve had a series of comments made to me over the years about when I was first running for preselection asking whether I wanted to have kids and what impact it would have.
“There are many reasons why we struggle to attract women to a life in politics, but what woman feels encouraged when they are questioned about their ability to raise their children, or whether they can juggle both a family and represent their community?”
She said she wanted to see more women in the political sphere, and this was her reason for speaking out about those who questioned whether women could do their job effectively when pregnant or as young mothers.
“Regardless of the hurdles of this environment, it’s worth it to make a difference, and I want to see more women in here challenging the stereotypes and changing the culture,” she said.
Ms Wilson is likely to face a factional preselection challenge before the next election, having won the spot last year by just six votes against the Right’s candidate Tim James.
She said her parliamentary colleagues were very supportive of women but that the remarks and assumptions about her ability to juggle motherhood and politics came from some party members.
“The first two colleagues I told about my pregnancy were the Premier (Gladys Berejiklian) and the Speaker (Shelley Hancock), two women who more than anyone else have made this workplace a welcoming and supportive environment for women and mothers,” she said.
She said Liberal women were staunch supporters of each other and she had colleagues she could get advice from including Minister for Women Tanya Davies, who had a son while serving as MP, and Member for Holsworthy Melanie Gibbons, who has had two daughters in this term of parliament.
Ms Wilson raised the issue of women in parliament in her maiden speech.