‘Not important': Liberal leader Sussan Ley dismisses quota criticism in pitch to women
It comes after reports former Liberal Party vice president Teena McQueen described the organiser of a NSW Liberal Party branch petition for a gender quota as a 'moron'.
Asked about the comment and backlash within the NSW Liberals to the idea of a quota, Ms Ley told reporters on Thursday she 'didn't actually think that's important'.
'I'm not going to go into the descriptions that may or may not have been given to certain points of view … What I welcome is the constructive debate,' Ms Ley said.
'I will make it clear every single day that we do need to improve, increase female representation in our party and that means through the pre-selection processes and in our parliament.
'Now, the Liberal Party state divisions have the final responsibility for that. So I welcome any ideas they may put forward.
'I'm agnostic about what those methods may be, but I am an absolute zealot that we have higher female representations and that we reflect the role of women in our party and in our policies.'
The new Liberal leader has not specifically endorsed or disendorsed introducing gender quotas in her quest to recruit more women to the party.
Ms Ley met with about 30 women business and community leaders on Thursday, which she said would help inform the party's future policies.
She told reporters it was critical the party listen to women following its bruising loss at the federal election in May.
'It is absolutely vital we fix our policies going forward,' Ms Ley said.
Asked about what policy changes the party was willing to consider, Ms Ley said they were still under review.
'Lots of policies are being raised and it's important that in this listening phase, I remind people that our policies are under review, and that's important because we got smashed at the last election, and we need to examine those policies,' she said.
'Shadow ministers will be doing that work, and then we need to continue to consult, to engage, and most importantly, to listen.'
Ms Ley said they had received 'terrific feedback' on Thursday, with women voicing concerns especially around cost of living and childcare.
'I know what the struggle is when you feel like you have to do so much, but you can't achieve it all,' she said.
'Women often take that burden on the caring responsibilities of responsibilities in the home.
'The statistics tell us that it is still women who are doing all of those things, and that's why we need women's policies, and that will be very prominent in the policy development that we undertake.'
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