Dutton steps in to stop Liberal frontbench women being dumped by men in pre-selections

Coalition leader Peter Dutton is using his personal authority to protect two female frontbenchers from being dumped by their own party members and prevent the further shrinking of the number of women in the opposition.

To turn around the Liberals’ worst level of female representation in 30 years, a problem its leaders identified as key to reclaiming government, outgoing ex-minister Karen Andrews is also calling for consideration of a radical rule change that would allow non-party members to help pick candidates.

Melissa McIntosh in parliament in 2021.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston, whom Dutton has strongly endorsed, is facing a push by right faction forces aligned with Senator Alex Antic, who will likely dislodge her at the top of the South Australian Senate ticket. Her supporters hope she will cling onto the winnable second position, though Ruston’s backers fear an ally of Antic will make a play for the second spot – despite warnings from senior Liberals in Canberra.

Melissa McIntosh, who was this week promoted to shadow cabinet with responsibilities for western Sydney and energy affordability, does not appear to have the support of a majority of branch members in the key NSW seat of Lindsay.

Top party figures have tried to pressure local councillor Mark Davies into not challenging McIntosh but those attempts have so far failed, raising the prospect of a rare federal division intervention in the NSW branch if Dutton is left with no alternative.

On International Women’s Day on Friday, Dutton signalled his determination to save McIntosh, telling this masthead she was a top-level marginal seat campaigner who had built an impressive margin over Labor. He has written to local members pushing them to support McIntosh.

“The government’s ignoring the needs of western Sydney because they’re chasing Greens preferences in inner [Anthony Albanese’s seat of] Grayndler and inner Melbourne. I see Mel’s new role as being at the forefront of leading the debate for the Coalition in this critical region,” he said.

Of the prospective dumpings of Ruston and McIntosh, one senior Liberal said: “Let’s hope sanity prevails.”

After the Scott Morrison-led Coalition lost the support of many women in major city suburbs at the last election, a Liberal Party review called for a 50 per cent female representation target in 10 years.

The party, led by the work of senior frontbencher Jane Hume, is months away from the establishment of the Dame Margaret Guilfoyle Network. The organisation will aim to connect Liberal-leaning women with employment opportunities and pathways within the party.

Of the Coalition’s 45 MPs in the shadow ministry, 17 are women. It has preselected Mary Aldred (Monash), Katie Allen (Higgins), Gisele Kapterian (North Sydney), Susie Bower (Lyons), and Katie Mullins (Parramatta), though only Aldred’s seat is currently held by the Liberals.

Frontbencher Karen Andrews is quitting politics after a 14-year career.Credit: James Brickwood

The dearth of women in safe Liberal seats prompted Karen Andrews, a former home affairs minister, to argue there was no discernible plan to broaden the party’s ranks.

“What is the strategy?” she asked, lamenting that four men had nominated for her Queensland seat of McPherson.

She argued that the party should look at opening up pre-selections to allow greater community buy-in, as in US-style primaries.

Andrews said the existing model of picking candidates incentivised years of attending meetings in local branches to build up numbers – a form of party activism often overlooked by women in the workforce who entered preselection races at a later stage than men.

Andrews agreed with the argument that the best candidate, regardless of gender, should win pre-selections.

“But who says one gender is more meritorious than the other?” she said.

“We need to make sure we are preselecting candidates who are representative of the community rather than just being party animals.”

In her home state of Queensland, where the Coalition holds 25 of 30 federal seats, there will likely be just one or two Liberal National Party women in the lower house after the next federal election.

In West Australia, departing MPs Nola Marino and Ian Goodenough will both be replaced by men.

Alan Tudge would have been replaced by a woman, Roshena Campbell, but the Liberals lost the 2023 Aston by-election.

A woman and a man filled NSW senate vacancies created by a woman and a man, resulting in no net change. Former minister Stuart Robert was replaced by Cameron Caldwell.

Nationals deputy leader and NSW senator, Perin Davey, survived a preselection challenge on Friday, prompting party leader David Littleproud to say: “On International Women’s Day, the Nationals have selected two strong women”.

Charlotte Mortlock, a Coalition staffer who runs women’s advocacy group Hilma’s Network, said she supported mandated quotas to get more women into parliament but was pursuing other strategies because quotas had little support.

“I think it would be a waste of my time because I think it would fail,” she told the ABC’s Insiders podcast this week.

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