Perrottet pledges to preselect and promote more women
Premier Dominic Perrottet has backed preselecting women to run in up to five NSW by-elections, while suggesting Canberra has been “a bit slow” in addressing the treatment, respect and representation of women.
NSW
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Premier Dominic Perrottet has backed his party preselecting women to run in up to five upcoming by-elections, while suggesting the Commonwealth Government has been “a bit slow” in addressing the treatment, respect and representation of women.
The comments come ahead of a ministerial reshuffle which Mr Perrottet has promised will promote more women into cabinet.
Addressing the National Press Club, Mr Perrottet did not put a number on how many women he will promote to the frontbench.
But he said he was “confident” that there would be “strong female representation” for the Liberal party in upcoming by-elections.
Mr Perrottet said the Liberal party had not “done a great job” of encouraging women to run for parliament so far, but a diverse cabinet would lead to better decision making.
The Premier said the NSW Government had “worked really hard” on issues relating to the treatment of women, including passing affirmative consent last month.
In contrast, Mr Perrottet said the Commonwealth Government — which has been hit by high-profile incidents including Brittany Higgins’ assault allegations — had been “a bit slow”.
“I think the federal government would admit that they’ve been a bit slow in this area, that it hasn’t been a substantive focus point,” he said.
“Certainly now, we’re seeing very pleasing notes coming out of the Commonwealth Government in relation to driving change in this area.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it takes some bad situations to eventuate for the public, and for politicians particularly, to take notice and step up to the plate.”
Mr Perrottet called for a renewed debate on federal and state responsibilities, and urged state and territory leaders to come together without the Commonwealth to assess each jurisdiction’s response to the pandemic, including what worked and what did not.
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