The Battle of the Sexes !

There are about twenty percent of women holding Liberal/National party seats in the Australian parliament compared with Labor with nearly forty-eight percent.  This imbalance is being highlighted because a woman who holds a ministerial position in government has just been disendorsed from recontesting her safe seat at the next election.

Jane Prentice holds the Brisbane seat of Ryan and served as assistant minister for disability services.  In a move that surprised many people, the party committee who comprise her electorate management decided that they preferred another person as their candidate and declined to endorse her as their preferred nominee at the next election.

What has further enraged the women's movement on both sides of politics is their choice of a Brisbane man who is nearly twenty years junior to Ms Prentice. Julian Simmonds won the battle for party selection at the party meeting last weekend.

The Prime Minister has praised Ms Prentice's performance in her ministerial role and this has been echoed by similar praise from the opposition, although opposition praise of a minister is decidedly tongue in cheek.  The opposition is hoping that dumping a woman for a younger man will infuriate the women's movement and swing a few votes their way.

At times the women's movement has been shrill in demanding quotas to ensure that parliament consists of an even balance of men and women, but this has been rejected on the grounds that the best person holding that seat is more important than the sexual balance.  Who sits in the parliament is essentially the choice of the voters and party selection is heavily influenced on presenting a candidate who will gain that support at the ballot box.

This decision to dump Jane Prentice has been made by a small group of people within the Ryan electorate.  At the next election it will be tested by the voters and as it is considered a safe electorate the decision will most likely be endorsed.   It could very easily become a three candidate election if Ms Prentice decides to run as an independent candidate and splits the LNP vote to bring a Labor win. Or the voters may reject Mr Simmonds appeal and re-elect Ms Prentice as their member.

It can be hard for a woman to win endorsement in an electorate with a heavy misogynist content in either the party selection committee or its voter content and in the past it was very evident that many women voters declined to support a woman running for office in politics.  Fortunately that has changed although many inner city electorates still maintain a very conservative attitude to candidates.

The reason why Ryan will not have Ms Prentice as their LNP candidate rests within the minds of that selection committee.The final decision will be made when the voters go to the polls, and this is the very reason why we have elections.   The parliament that runs the nation is composed of those who   have gained the vote of the public - and that is the way it should be.  The balance of the seats attained will determine what political party will hold office.

The gender of those sitting in parliamentary seats is entirely a matter for the voters !