Sneaking under the cataclysmic news cycle was the announcement that NSW Liberals might go ‘full Woke’ and solidify concerns that the wets have drowned the party.
Miffed that there aren’t enough surviving elected women, the NSW division is considering gender quotas to correct their image. Never mind that the entire species of ‘Liberal’ has become an endangered species.
According to reports, the state council was recently briefed on the pink thought bubble and now, presumably, the focus groups have their ear to the ground, listening for public outrage. Unfortunately, conservatives are so fed up with the behaviour of the Liberal Leadership under Sussan Ley, and yesterday’s predictable dissolution of the Coalition, that they no longer care about future self-destructive election paths. This means the party leadership could easily misinterpret silence as consent. On this, they should take the advice pushed onto young couples by nannying policy: silence doesn’t mean ‘yes’; you must get a verbal ‘yes!’
The policy is worse than you think.
Far from aspirational (I am growing to despise that word) gender splits, the party would seek 40 per cent female MPs, 40 per cent male, and 20 per cent ‘whatever’. No one dared to do the maths on transgender candidates.
Further, and here I will quote from the Australian because it sounds mad:
Upper House tickets at state and federal level would require a 50-50 gender split of candidates with positions alternating between men and women, while local preselection contests would also require 50 per cent of candidates to be women.
Forty per cent of key seats in NSW would be reserved solely for women via women-only pre-selections, in a move to stop the shoehorning of female candidates into unwinnable electorates.
In the event a Liberal branch dared to select a candidate on merit rather than a skirt check, they could lose support or funding.
This is equity, not equality.
It is a copy-paste from the Green communist dystopia.
The sacrifice of merit for superficial identity politics is an insult to every conservative who supported the Liberals.
The power brokers and factional warlords are embarrassed that their draconian control of pre-selections, candidates, and policies has led to the almost complete annihilation of the Liberal Party. They thought they were the smartest people in the country. The public disagree. Instead of returning the selection of candidates to Liberal Party members, the faceless men have tightened their grip.
Australians are not sexist. When a good woman emerges in politics, she wins her seat. Look to Pauline Hanson as an example. She might be the most powerful individual in Australian politics, and certainly the most enduring figure. There was no female-only pre-selection for her. Are the NSW Liberals saying their female candidates are so hopeless that men have to step aside to allow their assent? Or that those controlling the pre-selections can’t be trusted not to put their best buddies in power? Is it a member problem, or an executive problem?
It shouldn’t have to be said, but what the heck, why not? Voters do not care what gender their candidate is, only that they are strong leaders with a conservative moral core. They want representatives prepared to defy their party leader, cross the floor, and vote for the people of Australia.
The response to this policy online is exactly as you’d expect … disgust.
Utter disgust that a conservative party would sink to such a low ideological position so deeply divorced from the We Believe statement they might as well delete it from the website.
The measure also came in the wake of the takeover of the NSW Liberals by the federal executive in 2024 … the gender policy was completed at the request of former NSW Premier Nick Greiner, who took over as chairman of the NSW Liberals’ management committee in June.
They even managed to call it a ‘uniquely Liberal proposal’.
Yes. The Liberals are currently the masters of unique self-destruction.
It remains a mystery to the party executive why their previous attempts to recruit more women haven’t worked when I would have thought the answer was straight forward. Women are extremely good at perceiving a rigged game and so are less likely to make the sacrifices required to run. The answer is not to rig the game for select women. That’s just another version of the same thing that’s happening now. It is to ensure that these pre-selections are fully open, entirely merit-based, and in the hands of the membership. A fair go.
They could even offer some public speaking and press training to candidates to help sharpen their skills.
Gifting women a free pass to power by clearing away the men says that the Liberal Party do not think women can compete on an equal footing. Those women who are elected via this method will always be looked upon as less-worthy than the men standing next to them. The public will perceive them as weak. The party as pathetic. And the Liberal brand as a knock-off Teal.
Conservative voters would be more vocally cross if they weren’t already exhausted.
I have worked in male-dominated industries my whole life, and risen to the top. If I ever found out that a job was given to me because of my gender, I would be furious. It would be the mark of failure, embarrassment, and make a mockery of that good old tradition of competition.
The Left have no problem being given cushy, high-paid jobs based on their identity, whatever that happens to be, but conservatives have always held themselves to a higher standard.
This is unforgivable.
Flat White is written by Alexandra Marshall. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.
