Data show young Australian women are less politically engaged than men. Given the negative experiences of female politicians, that’s hardly surprising. But there’s a glimmer of hope.
As the country prepares to go to the polls on February 14, will the low representation of women in parliament improve? Given the systemic barriers in place, probably not.
Women have been disproportionately disadvantaged in this pandemic – and the only way to fix that is to bring more more women, especially Coalition women, into parliament.
Australia’s parliament has become more family-friendly in the last decade, but women with families are still finding it tough. Other democracies can provide some inspiration.
The early suffragists would be rolling in their graves to know that women joining the ranks of parliamentarians barely changed their male colleagues’ outlook and demeanour at all.