Fadden byelection: Liberals face pressure to preselect female candidate

Asked whether the Liberal Party should back a female candidate in Fadden, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told ABC Breakfast on Friday she "wants to see more women in parliament", but the decision was up to the state division.

While a record number of women were elected to the House of Representatives in the last federal election, the number of women Liberal MPs fell from 13 to nine.

Ms Ley acknowledged the Liberal Party did not have enough women in the House of Representatives, but said it was making progress on the issue.

"I've been talking to state divisions, who as I say are responsible for much of that engagement and those next steps. But they've all taken the challenge. They've moved forward with it," she told ABC Breakfast.

"In each state there are initiatives that I can already see that are working well to attract women to the party."

When asked by ACM, publisher of this newspaper, if she had provided a reference, or planned to endorse, any of the candidates nominating in the northern Gold Coast electorate, Ms Ley's office referred back to the comments she made on ABC Breakfast.

Angie Bell, federal member for the neighbouring electorate of Moncrieff, also said while she "has always been a strong advocate for a strong female presence and representation within our Parliament", it would be up to Fadden to choose its candidate.

"The Fadden preselection is a matter for the Fadden FDC, but so far I have seen a number of great candidates mentioned in the media and I trust that the FDC will choose the right person for the job," she said.

ACM understands Fadden Liberal branch chair Fran Ward is the only woman at this stage expected to put her hand up for the safe Liberal seat.

Gold Coast City councillor Cameron Caldwell and disability advocate Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM will join the race, the ABC has reported.

The Liberals are well aware their lack of female representation is a problem: the party's own review of its 2022 federal election result acknowledged it had performed "particularly poorly with female voters", and recommended setting a target of 50 per cent female representation in parliament.

Ms Ley herself has also previously advocated for all states and territory divisions to adopt an official target of preselecting women in 50 per cent of seats.

READ MORE

Charlotte Mortlock, founder of a new Liberal women's organisation, Hilma's Network, said the party overall needs to do more to support its female candidates.

"If MPs want more women in politics, they should be providing references for female candidates, making calls with them and helping them practically," she told The Canberra Times.

"If you are a Liberal Party member who likes to think of yourself as 'pro woman', you need to be voting for women. Doing everything else but voting for them is brazen virtue signalling.

"Impressive women are consistently held to a higher standard than mediocre men. I know the talent we have in the pipeline. Believe me, the problem is not the women. It's the structure, membership, and individuals not wanting to rock the boat for their own self-interests."

The Fadden byelection was triggered after Liberal minister Stuart Roberts formally resigned from parliament on Thursday. At the time of writing, no date has been set for the by-election.

The Coalition recently lost the once-safe Liberal seat of Aston at the April byelection, in what was widely viewed as a test of Peter Dutton's leadership.

While it's unlikely the Liberal Party will lose a Gold Coast seat, Associate Professor in politics at Griffith University Paul Williams said the Fadden byelection would be one to watch.

"Peter Dutton's leadership is not travelling well in middle Australia, (but) the Gold Coast is different because it's LNP heartland," he told AAP.

"The important story is whether Labor gets a swing to them. Labor doesn't need to win to have a moral victory."

Liberal preselection nominations for the seat are set to close on Friday, May 19.