WOMEN have been warned by Australia’s most experienced female politician that parliament is not a pleasant workplace – and never will be.
Former Federal Speaker of the House Bronwyn Bishop, who left parliament in 2016 as the nation’s longest serving female MP, said women should stay clear of politics if they’re scared of a fight.
- Former Speaker calls gender quotas "wrong, patronising and offensive".
- The result will be women being treated as permanent second class citizens.
- If you can't fight, then parliament is the wrong place for you.
She made her comments while lambasting Prime Minster Scott Morrison’s recent lurch towards gender quotas.
“Let me make this patently clear,” Ms Bishop fumed. “I find the whole concept of quotas offensive – patronising.
“Because it says ‘oh you poor dear little things, you can’t possibly get there on you own. You need us big white men to come along and make it easy for you to get a little bit of the action’.
“How patronising is that!”
Speaking on Sky News’ Paul Murray Live, the 30-year parliamentarian said if quotas were introduced women would become permanent second-class citizens.
“You’re only there because you’re a woman” will be the result, she said.
“If you want to go into politics you do so because you believe in things. You believe that you’re going there to serve the people. That you are going there to fight for the things that are important.
“And if you haven’t got the ability to fight then it’s the wrong place for you.”
Ms Bishop said women needed to understand that whatever side of politics they’re on, up to half the population was going to hate them.
“That’s the reality,” she said. “If you’re going to put your head above the parapet, expect somebody to have a go at it.
“That’s what the reality of it is. You’re there to fight for the people and fight for the country because you care about people and you love your country.
HOWARD
“If you go in with any other aspirations, like it’s a nice job and I want a nice workplace relationship, you’re going in with the wrong intent.”
When former Prime Minister John Howard formed his first two ministries there was only room for four women, Ms Bishop said. It increased to six in his third and fourth ministries.
“The important thing that we’re now seeing is that women are being promoted because they have ability,” she said.
“And I want to see more and more women enter into the political arena. I want to see more and more women graduate, become ministers and exercise policy authority.
“But you don’t do it with quotas and you don’t do it with patronising.”
Ms Bishop said she hoped the prime minister’s quota discussion dissipated.
“If you start on quotas for women, who’s next? What other quotas are we going to have to have,” she said.
“The beauty of a wide electorate representation is that people come forward for the right reasons, to serve their country. And the various electors then choose which one they want.”
PM Morrison raised the introduction quotas last week to counter allegations of sexual misbehaviour by political staffers.
These included a rape allegation by former Department of Defence Industry employee Brittany Higgins as well as images of staffers masturbating and performing homosexual acts on the desk of a female MP who had opposed legalising gay marriage.PC
I live in the seat of Mackellar and wish Bronwyn was still here. Jason Falinski is a nice man but too left leaning for me. If there was any chance of Bronwyn returning to federal politics I would welcome here with open arms. She is a strong woman who knows Australian politics and all of the rules and regulations. She would make a superb prime minister.
QUOTAS will only ensure that many SECOND RATE, often inexperienced candidates get an easy, undeserved slide into a seat in Parliament, to the very obvious detriment of sensible and intelligent Governance!
Bronwyn Bishop steeped herself in every facet of Conservative Politics after she left High School and eventually became the first Female Senator to be elected to the Upper House by popular vote. After great experience in the Senate, she then decided to run for the House of Reps for the Electorate of Mackellar, initially wanting to take on Hewson for the Leadership. She was NEVER been ‘inserted’ into any political position, winning every well-contested election by dint of her ABILITY, HER CAPACITY TO FIGHT and to take the hard knocks, all of which led to her serving a long, strenuous apprenticeship in the Shadow Cabinet Ministries under Hewson, Downer and Howard.
Bishop was deservedly appointed Minister for Defence Industry, Science and Personnel by John Howard and has been the most knowledgeable and POPULAR True-Conservative Politician ever since, diligently serving her Electorate, her beloved Party and Country.
After the Libs lost the 1993 election, Bronwyn was named in a poll as one of the most popular politicians in the Country and a 1994 Poll gave her a 13 point lead as preferred Prime Minister over Paul Keating!
No wonder then, with her many, many years of hard work, her complete political knowledge, (amassing a deep well of ‘political smarts’) and her formidable, but fair, ability for no-nonsense discipline, Bronwyn became, one of the most successful Speakers of the House ever.
She worked and fought indefatigably to climb the political ladder on the back of her profound ability and is now using her accumulated, giant briefcase of expertise and perception to widely commentate by appearing on many of the wonderful and varied programmes broadcast by Sky News Channel.
Ms Bishop always shows such common sense, in fact I have always thought that she would have made a great Prime Minister of Australia. What a pity that others in the Liberal Party didn’t recognise her outstanding abilities when they had the chance.
We already have quotas for State governments in the Senate. Quotas for gender in preselections. With all respect for our most preeminent and oldest living Female Speaker BB got where she was through male patronage – which is more demeaning or having a level playing field?
Ms Bishop provides wonderful memories of the sublime Howard era. Liberals used to fight for mainstream Australian values against the idiots. These days, they’d prefer to join the left rather than risk losing bark. Gutless, gutless, shameful traitors.