| Neville,
“Tony Abbott’s leadership facing renewed questions…” that’s the headline of an article in The Age today; which goes on to detail that “internal despair at the government’s problems is now so widespread that even MPs in the more conservative junior coalition partner, the Nationals, are now adjusting for a likely leadership change…”.1
As speculation about a second leadership spill builds, one thing is crystal clear — any move to a new leader will also mean a reshuffled cabinet — and an opportunity to address the abysmal under-representation of women at our nation’s key decision-making table.
Any new leader’s decisions about cabinet appointments will be influenced by a range of factors, including the need to appoint Ministers from a range of states, and the appointment of the required number of National Party members.2 It’s well past time the representation of women was an issue considered with similar seriousness.
Tony Abbott’s cabinet announcements have brought the issue of women’s under-representation in cabinet into the public spotlight — can you help make sure it stays there? If a spill is announced, there will only be a very small window of time to build pressure around this issue – which means collecting support beforehand is critical. Can you sign and share this petition showing Australians want women to be better represented in our cabinet?
www.fairagenda.org/cabinet
If we can collect enough signatures in support, we’ll use them to send any new leader a clear message before any new cabinet is appointed.
Thanks for everything you do to help put fair on the agenda,
Renee, for Fair Agenda
PS – Fair Agenda’s campaigns are only possible thanks to the support of everyday members like you — can you chip in to help make more campaigns like this possible? http://fairagenda.org/donate
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References
1. Tony Abbott’s leadership facing renewed questions with Malcolm Turnbull breaking ranks, The Age, 26 February 2015.
2. Jane Caro on women in cabinet: quotas and ‘merit’ in politics, Crikey, 17 September 2013.
Fair Agenda
http://www.fairagenda.org/ |
