Men-only Australian Club vote: are women wanted?

The country’s most prestigious gentlemen’s establishment, the Australian Club, will vote on whether to allow women to join.

The interior of the Australian Club in Sydney.

After more than two years of ­discussion, the country’s most prestigious ­gentlemen’s establishment will take a vote next Tuesday on the question “most frequently on the lips” of members – should the Australian Club allow women to join?.

The issue has split the secretive club – which counts among its membership former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull – with senior judicial and corporate figures lining up on either side.

The ballot was brought on by members opposed to allowing women to join, a group dubbed by detractors as the St Paul’s mafia, after the University of Sydney college they attended.

Those men, led by former Federal Court judge Peter Graham, say they are concerned a proposed three-year investigation into whether women should be allowed to join, proposed by those in favour, would be a waste of time and embarrass the club.

Membership to the Australian Club is by invitation only. Picture: Monique Harmer

“The harm that will be done to the Club by the publicity of the Club’s affairs in gossip columns etc may be incapable of repair,” Mr Graham wrote in a letter sent to members on May 31.

The proposal – known as The Desirability or Otherwise of Women Being Entitled to Membership of the Club – needs 75 per cent support at the in-person meeting, and is largely expected to be voted down.

Mr Graham — according to two sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the Australian Club’s strict rules — is being backed by CCZ Statton Equities chairman Geoff Travers, former merchant banker Philip Wood and several others.

In a 10-page missive, Mr Graham said it was absurd to think there was a clear desire for change, first raised at a May 2019 meeting, which he said was limited to few members and canvassed significant terrain.

Peter Graham.

“(Members at the meeting) expressed views about the Club, ranging from Stuffiness to Excessive subscription categories, to Dress Code, to the absence of a Cocktail Bar … to the admission of members of Asian race, to ­mobile phones, to purchase of excessive artworks, and to the exercise of caution in electing new members lest we lose our sense of exclusivity,” Mr Graham wrote.

He added that a small number of people spoke about allowing women as members.

“One point was that if we were to allow female members, it would double the pool from which we could draw,” he wrote. “Another was that the women members you’d get, would be women you wouldn’t want. Another was that the Club provided a place where you could get away from ‘bossy women’.”

Those pushing for women to be admitted as members – after 183 years of membership being reserved for men – include retired Supreme Court judge Michael Pembroke and former Credit Suisse banker David Kent. Former Macquarie chairman Kevin McCann was also supportive, sources said. Mr McCann declined to comment, as did Mr Graham.

But those who support the admission of women into the membership say it would boost finances, bring people in prominent positions who would otherwise be barred into the club, and keep the institution relevant.

There are also concerns the time of the vote – 10am – will make it hard to attract those other than the most ardent supporters and detractors of the proposal.

“Currently the issue most frequently on the lips of Members is the Club’s approach to the consideration of whether to allow women to be members of the Club,” Australian Club president John Stanham wrote to members in his June update.

Kevin McCann. Picture: AAP

“The business of the meeting is clear. If passed, the Special Resolution will amend the Club’s Constitution to permit women to become members of the Club.”

The Australian Club does allow women to attend the club – if they are accompanied by male members – but not to join.

Even for men, membership to the club is by invitation only.

Established in 1838, the club is frequented by some of Sydney’s most influential corporate and political figures, although a list of members is tightly held.

In July, The Sunday Telegraph reported Cardinal George Pell was a member, and had hosted dinner there for Sky News presenter Alan Jones and former prime minister Tony Abbott.

The nearby Queen’s Club, which has a relationship with the Australian Club, allows only women to join as members.

Opponents of allowing women to join the Australian Club suggest the change could harm the Queen’s Club.

“Our Club has a distinctive male decor and The Queen’s Club has a delightful feminine decor,” Mr Graham wrote.

An unrelated Melbourne institution also named The Australian Club also does not allow women to become members.

A sandwich buffet will follow Tuesday morning’s vote.