Two UNE gender and politics experts have welcomed the number of women elected to Australian government but warn that the struggle for fairer representation – in government and society – is far from over.
With women now holding more House of Representatives and Senate seats than ever before, gender specialist Christina Kenny and politics lecturer Angelika Heurich believe there is much cause for optimism.
“This is long overdue,” says Christina. “But the fact that Labor was successful with the lowest primary vote in almost 100 years and that so many Independent women candidates were successful says something about the way women feel they are best represented.”
While Angelika – whose PhD in political sociology involved interviewing 20 prominent Australian women in politics – is not convinced that quotas are the best alternative, she says the Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) efforts have been proven to support and promote the political careers of women.
The government cannot be allowed to rest on its laurels.
It introduced an affirmative action policy in 1994, when women represented just 14% of the federal ALP caucus. Targets have since been raised from 35% representation to 40% in 2002, 45% by 2020 and 50% by 2025. This federal election result, with a few seats still undecided, appears set to bring the number of Labor women in the Lower House to 47%, and Angelika is forecasting women’s representation in the realm of 51% across both houses for Labor.
Cultural shift on the cards
“It’s not just about parties endorsing women candidates, but a cultural shift that’s needed,” she says. “As well as quotas, we need to see greater acceptance in society of women in government. Then, once we have more women at the table of power, it becomes the norm and we come to see our elected representatives as people doing these jobs, not men or women.”
Christina says the onus is now on the new Labor government to address serious structural barriers to gender equality. “Like the defunding of women’s domestic violence support services and safe houses, the Aboriginal Legal Service and even systemic discrimination against women of colour, First Nations women, women with disability, and queer and gender diverse people,” she says.
“The government cannot be allowed to rest on its laurels. Women make up the majority of teachers and nurses and it was more likely to have been women who had to cut back their hours or quit their jobs during COVID to care for children.”
The task of rebuilding a “wrecked house” will be huge, according to Angelika. However, the rise in teal Independents, the majority of them women with gender equality agendas, is promising.
We need to continue to strive for stronger, more inclusive, more respectful participatory democracy.
“Some incredibly talented women, who have either been overlooked by the major parties in the past or don’t like the way the party system operates have been willing to speak up and stand up for their communities,” she says. “Voters have seen the likes of Cathy McGowan and Helen Haines in Indi – who became the first Independent in Australian history to succeed an Independent – provide a voice for their grass roots communities. These women have been selected based on merit, free of the usual party politics.”
Democracy needs diversity
While the success of the Independents has been described as having a “seismic” impact on our politics, Christina reserves her judgement. “As much as I am very excited by the movement and the momentum behind these local campaigns, which I think are critical to the strength and fabric of Australian democracy, they are predominantly white women with tertiary educations,” she says. “We have seen an increase in ethnic and multicultural diversity, to be celebrated across the Parliament, but we need to continue to strive for stronger, more inclusive, more respectful participatory democracy.”
And a government swept to power on promises of improving working conditions for women, providing cheaper childcare and more affordable housing – issues that disproportionately impact women – now has to deliver.
“There was a huge amount of relief in America when Joe Biden was elected, but now we are seeing massive and coordinated attacks on fundamental rights to bodily autonomy for women, through draconian anti-abortion legislation, and even the arrest of parents who support the trans identities of their children,” Christina says. “There’s no resting in Australia; we need to be eternally vigilant, to ensure we are building a country we can all be proud of.”
