Canberra born radio and TV broadcaster Erin Molan wants an end to the absolute power of party factions and other "bullshit" which she said has stopped her from entering politics and thwarted the rise of many other talented women.
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The 2DayFM host and daughter of the late Liberal senator Jim Molan will be speaking in Canberra on Monday, along with Liberal staffer Lizzie Wheeler, at the ACT launch of a new Liberal women's network, Hilma's Network, which is named after iconic NSW suffragette Hilma Molyneux Parkes.
In the wake of the May 2022 federal election loss, the non-factional grouping, founded by former Sky News journalist Charlotte Mortlock, aims to change the Liberal Party's base by attracting and "flooding" the party with women and younger people.
Ms Molan - who has no official affiliation with Hilma's Network - loves Canberra, and is a big fan of ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, but she said politics needs to change and acknowledge all of society.
"You need more women in this pool to put their hands up. And then when they do put their hands up, you need factions, and that other bullshit, not to stop them from progressing. And that's one thing that I cannot stand when it comes to politics," she told The Canberra Times.
"One thing that, to be honest with you, I've been asked multiple times at a federal and a state level to run by some pretty incredibly high up people. And [I haven't] for a few different reasons, but one of them being the fact that I hear stories about how these factions run. I see it firsthand. I've heard it firsthand.
"And I think it is such an indictment on politics the way that factions control things, run things, manipulate things. So that's another element I'd like to see removed or ... I know it never will be ... but, that doesn't help women in a lot of ways."
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Ms Molan said there was a perception among young people that the Liberal Party is "old, stale and right-wing", but she insists it is not and "needs to be debunked."
"I think what Charlotte's doing with Hilma's is really, really important, because young women are the future of the Liberal Party and unless they can tap into that the party will die," she said.
"I think we need two major parties who are strong. We need two major parties to contest really important ideas. And at the moment, we're not seeing much of that."
Hilma's Network already runs in NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland and has already built up more than 1000 subscribers who are a mix of women and men.
The ACT branch will be looking to capitalise on federal parliamentary sitting weeks where thousands of staffers come to Canberra from all over the country. The group is also seeking government and public relations types, and people who are curious about Liberal Party possibilities.
Ms Mortlock said the Liberal Party needs to better support women inside the party, perhaps at the grassroots level or at preselection, before it has any chance of coming up with policies that will help women outside the party.
"The average Australian is a 37-year-old female, the average little Liberal Party member is a male in his 60s," she told The Canberra Times. "So that disconnect is having a massive impact on our party. And if we improve the membership, we'll be able to improve our culture, our brand and our policy."
"And so, if they do ever want to run themselves, they can."
Ms Mortlock has high praise for the ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee as "one of the best examples" of what the Liberal Party can do, particularly relating to the broader public.
"She's just had a child. She's been working while pregnant as the leader of our party in the ACT," she said.
But the Liberals have been out of power in the ACT since 2001 and there's no federal Liberal representation.
The Liberal review of the party's disastrous federal election loss in May described the teals who defeated largely moderate Liberals as a "political party" which "should be treated as such" and that long-term Liberal voters, particularly women, described as "Liberal defectors", had become "alienated" from the party.
Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley has been charged with heading up a teal "fightback" plan to win back voter's trust.
"The problem is a branding issue for us is that the Liberal Party brand is on the nose. And I don't think that we have trust with the community," Ms Mortlock said. "I often relate this to 'you don't trust a person who's always having bad relationships to give you good relationship advice.'"
"The Liberal party cannot expect that women will vote for us unless we show that we are championing women and supporting and promoting women. And that has not been happening."
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