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Opposition leader Sussan Ley made history this May to become the first woman to lead the Liberal Party. In her first major address since taking the helm, she threw open the door to gender quotas within the Liberal Party — something long-considered taboo. She also uttered the ‘f’ word.
No, not Donald Trump’s expletive of choice. Feminist.
It’s a self-identifier she has used before, breaking away from other senior Liberal women like Julie Bishop and Michaelia Cash, who baulked at the word. But as leader, the label will send a certain signal to Australian women and sets the tone for Ley’s approach going forward.
Asked if it was a term she’d still use to describe herself on ABC’s RN Breakfast on Thursday, Ley did not answer directly, instead stating “I’m someone who proudly stands up for women every single hour of every single day.”
A day later, speaking to the Nine Network’s Inside Politics podcast, Ley said she did still identify as a feminist.
“Well, yes, I would [call myself a feminist] … I’m very happy to,” she said.
“In 2001 when I came into parliament, more women in Australia voted for [the Liberal Party] than they did for anyone else.
“That number’s been declining ever since, which is why I am so determined and so insistent that we fix this women’s problem.”
To introduce quotas, or not?
Ley used Wednesday’s National Press Club address to open the door to gender quotas as a way to remedy the Liberal Party’s tanking support among female voters.
While remaining “agnostic” on how the party would achieve better representation, Ley said she was “a zealot that it actually does happen”.
“I’m the first woman in my position and I don’t believe anyone in my position has had the resolve that I have right here, right now. Watch this space,” she declared.
Since then, the suggestion of quotas has been swiftly repudiated by senior Liberal men, including former Prime Minister Tony Abbot and leadership rival Angus Taylor.
“At the end of the day, if you’re going to have quotas, it means you are going to subvert democratic processes,” Taylor said.
While acknowledging there were not enough women in the Liberal Party – just six in the House of Representatives – Taylor suggested good mentorship and better recruitment processes could rectify that problem.
The political imperative to do so is a matter of life or death.
With just 43 seats in the lower house, the Coalition is on the precipice of electoral oblivion.
On the other hand, the Labor Party, which introduced gender quotas in 1994 and has 56% female representation in its caucus, enjoys a record 94 seats in the House of Representatives.
Senior Labor minister Tanya Plibersek slammed Taylor’s comments as “proof” that the Liberal Party had not learned its lesson.
“I think it’s incredible that the blokes in the Liberal Party haven’t even given Sussan Ley two months in the leadership without beginning to undermine her,” she said.
Feminist ‘means different things’
SBS asked more than a dozen Liberal Party frontbenchers if they support the idea of quotas or identify as feminists.
Angus Taylor said, “Well, you know, many people like to define [feminism] in many different ways, so I’ll leave that one for now.”
“I’ve got two wonderful, wonderful daughters who are capable, strong, and talented. I will always champion talented and capable women, and I always have.”
Opposition spokesperson for women Melissa McIntosh, meanwhile, backed her leader by stating quotas should be considered — but adopting a “yes or no” position would be “oversimplistic”.
“There are many mechanisms that should be considered including mentorship, pathways, and quotas and targets as part of the [election] review,” McIntosh said.
“The review must first and foremost, when it comes to women, look at addressing the culture of the Liberal Party because you could have all the quotas in the world, but that won’t make any difference if the cultural issues aren’t fixed. “
Moderate Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg said, “Look, I’m open to anything that works.”
Charlotte Mortlock, who founded the party’s grassroots organisation Hilma’s Network to “empower liberal-minded women,” has spoken out in support of quotas and criticised both Abbott and Taylor.
“Until we see something signed into the [Liberal Party’s] Constitution, I and many women, have no faith that the old guard of the Party actually has any intention to change,” Mortlock said.
“If there were alternatives to quotas, why weren’t they rolled out after the last [election] smashing [in 2022]?”
“Also, ‘feminist’ means that you believe in equal opportunity for men and women … There is no shame in the word. I am a proud feminist.”
Opposition spokesperson for health Anne Ruston, who rejected quotas in 2021, has shifted her position, stating “we can no longer rule out the temporary use of quotas as an option, given we have not met our targets to date by other means.”
NSW Senator Maria Kovacic has also supported the idea of short-term gender quotas.
As the Liberal party room met for the first time on Friday afternoon to dissect the May election results, Ley told her colleagues, “my leadership will be inclusive, consultative and collaborative”.
As the opposition begins the process of developing the policies it will take to the next election, including whether to support Net Zero, the issue of how to attract more women into the party’s ranks will be among the most complex challenges the Liberal Party of 2025 has to navigate.
