2 days ago
One job Liberal senator Jane Hume is holding on to
We return to the evergreen subject of the Liberal Party and its woman problem (or rather, as we quipped last week, its man problem)
Party elder Alan Stockdale 's ill-considered comments last week about 'assertive women' giving Liberal blokes a hard time rightly enraged members pushing to improve the party's parliamentary gender representation.
Those comments landed right as CBD was hearing gripes about the fate of the Margaret Guilfoyle Network, a forum for Liberal women that many didn't even know existed.
The network, named after Australia's first female cabinet minister, was quietly launched last year, despite being a recommendation of an internal review into the Liberals' 2022 election loss. No doubt there will be an announcement about another one of those soon.
Loading
Party sources were flabbergasted that the network had held just a handful of Zoom meetings and networking events since kicking off. And that Liberal women were expected to pay literal money to solve a problem caused by men. Indeed, membership costs a modest $150 a year for non-party members, $100 for those in the party and $50 for under 35s.
But a party spokesman wanted to set the record straight.
'The Margaret Guilfoyle Network has held events in almost every state and territory, and held multiple Zoom events including briefings on the Queensland election, the US election and guest speakers including NZ Finance Minister Nicola Willis,' he said.
'Now that the election's over, the MGN will deliver even more events for its members.'
