Malcolm Turnbull’s daughter has taken to Twitter criticising the Liberal’s attitude to women and claiming parliament is a toxic place for female.
In a series of stinging tweets in response to Julie Bishop’s speech about the low representation of women in parliament, Daisy Turnbull Brown said:
“It is going to be very hard to raise daughters and tell them to look to the Liberal Party for strong female role models”.
Another tweet read:
“I have never been a fan of quotas but they may be the Libs’ only hope to win back female supporters.”
The mother-of-two said there was “something fundamentally kid/family unfriendly about Canberra” adding “that is also a factor in why some women may not want to be MPs, sure. But that is not enough of a reason. It is not the reason for the past 3 weeks.
“You need to remove the toxic culture of parliament that makes it extremely unattractive to women.”
In her first major speech since the coup, and resigning as Foreign Minister, Ms Bishop said last month’s leadership spill opened a much broader debate about “bullying, harassment and coercion and the unequal treatment of women”.
Ms Bishop also spoke of the low representation of Liberal women in parliament and positions of power.
“It’s evident that there is an acceptance of a level of behaviour in Canberra that would not be tolerated in any other workplace in Australia,” Ms Bishop told a lunch.
“I’ve seen and witnessed some appalling behaviour that in a law firm I would never have accepted, but in parliament, it’s the norm.”
Ms Bishop also backed claims by Julia Banks, and Lucy Gichui, about threats and intimidation in the days leading up to the challenge to Malcolm Turnbull.
However government minister and Peter Dutton supporter Zed Seselja said he saw no evidence of bullying or intimidation during the bitter leadership brawl that saw Malcolm Turnbull cut down.
Senator Seselja also denied the Liberals have a problem with women – or systemic culture – but said Ms Bishop’s claims should be taken seriously.
“I think it’s important they’re properly considered,” he said.
“Everyone would take issues raised by someone as significant as Julie Bishop very seriously.”
Mr Seselja said he hadn’t seen any evidence.
“But I’m not dismissive of the fact others would have a different view,” he said.
“It’s important it’s properly considered.”
He did agree, however, that women were under-represented. Nine NEWS
