Our record on women exceeds Labor’s, say Liberal MPs

Liberal assistant ministers Sarah Henderson and Linda Reynolds have pushed back against claims the party is anti-women.

Liberal Assistant Minister for Social Services Sarah Henderson at Barwon Heads in her Victorian electorate of Corangamite yesterday. Picture: David Geraghty

Liberal assistant ministers Sarah Henderson and Linda Reynolds have pushed back against claims the party is anti-women and ­defended the Coalition’s merit-based system of choosing candidates, urging against Labor-inspired female quotas.

The intervention of the two senior Liberal women came after Julia Banks — who quit the government to sit as an independent over unspecified claims of bullying during the leadership turmoil in ­August — declared the Liberal Party had a women problem.

Ms Henderson, who holds the marginal seat of Corangamite and is a former Victorian colleague of Ms Banks, told The Australian the Coalition’s record on delivering for women “far exceeded Labor”.

In a move to neutralise damaging attacks on the government by Labor and disaffected government MPs aligned to former prime ­minister Malcolm Turnbull, the Assistant Social Services Minister said she had not experienced any of the bullying that Ms Banks claimed had been targeted at ­female MPs.

Ms Henderson said she was treated with “absolute consideration and respect” during the leadership contest, which led to Mr Turnbull quitting parliament.

“In my view, being lobbied for votes does not constitute bullying,” Ms Henderson said. “I can’t walk in anyone else’s shoes; I can only speak about my experience. But I can certainly say that being lobbied for votes is an integral part of a political process and it does not constitute bullying.”

Ms Henderson, whose mother, Ann, was a minister in the Kennett state government, said it was “simply not true” that the Liberal Party was not supportive of women.

The former ABC journalist, considered by Labor strategists as a strong local member, said both she and her late mother had been “supported” and “championed” during their political careers.

Ms Henderson’s intervention, four months before a likely May federal election, was yesterday backed by Senator Reynolds.

Writing in The Australian today, the Assistant Home Affairs Minister defended the Liberal Party’s approach in improving female representation. On current numbers, women make up less than 25 per cent of Liberal MPs, compared with Labor’s almost 50 per cent under a quota system.

The West Australian senator, who will have the number one spot on the Liberal ticket at the election, attacked Labor’s quota system as misguided and part of Bill Shorten’s “whatever it takes” approach.

The former Army Reserve commander, who reached the rank of brigadier, accused the ­Opposition Leader of “shamelessly” treating the issue as a ­political weapon.

“That the women of the Labor Party exploit these issues in the parliament and in the media says so much about the psyche of the Labor Party,” Senator Reynolds writes today.

“What saddens me is Labor women allow themselves to be used in this way.

“The obvious question is why do they do it? Is it because they cannot refuse to do so, or is it because they have been so desensitised within the trade union movement and the Labor Party, that they neither see nor care about the consequences?

“Whatever the reason, it is a clear demonstration to me that the culture within the Labor Party has not yet evolved from the culture of another era.”

The public intervention by Ms Henderson and Senator Reynolds, both promoted by Scott Morrison in his ministry reshuffle after he became Prime Minister, comes amid an internal debate in the government over how best to ­respond to its low female representation.

In November, Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer reportedly told Victorian Liberal MPs the party was viewed as “homophobic, anti-women, climate-change deniers”.

Ms Henderson said the government’s policies on improving the lives of women — including its $2.5 billion childcare reforms, changes to superannuation to support female workers and $300 million funding for women’s safety — had not been matched by any Labor government.

The Morrison government abolished the GST on tampons, which came into effect yesterday, and has listed new breast cancer medicine through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

“The Labor Party simply cannot match what we have delivered for women,” Ms Henderson said.

“When you look at our economic security statement, when you look at the incredible investment in women’s safety, when you look at the record workforce participation of women.

“This is a government that has been an absolute champion of women and I simply won’t cop those in the Labor Party who try to characterise us as otherwise.”

While Ms Henderson supports the merit-based system for choosing political candidates, she ­declared “more robust measures” might be needed if female representation in the Liberal Party did not improve.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek said the Coalition ­government had implemented only policies that disadvantaged women.

She said Labor had policies that would deliver equal pay, more superannuation, cheaper housing and more services.

“The Liberals tried five times to slash paid parental leave and called working mums rorters and double dippers,” Ms Plibersek said “Their childcare changes leave one in four families worse off. The Liberals argued against increases to the minimum wage that substantially benefit women and threw their support behind cuts to penalty rates that disproportionately impact women.”

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said there was “no doubt” some people in the modern era were using the gender argument to “suit their own circumstances”.

“I think there is no doubt that some in this new age have used gender, I think, irresponsibly and to serve their own purpose,” Mr Kennett said.

“I’ve promoted women based on merit and was doing it well ­before MeToo and equality was even talked about.”