Share this @internewscast.comFacebookXRedditPinterestSurvey results around the election period indicated a significant shift of Australian women away from the party.
Sussan Ley is determined to get more women into the Liberal Party. (Nine)
鈥淚 mentioned that we would engage with people, uphold our principles, refine our strategies, and work diligently for Australians鈥 part of that effort involves honoring, mirroring, and advocating for contemporary Australia, which certainly includes women,鈥 Ley stated.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a sobering fact that as I enter parliament on the first day, sitting opposite the prime minister, there will be only five Liberal women seated behind me, which serves as a strong motivator for change.鈥
She also denied the rumours of a divide in the party on the issue of quotas.
Figures like former prime minister Tony Abbott and Ley鈥檚 leadership rival Angus Taylor have spoken out, saying gender quotas were against the party鈥檚 core philosophy茂禄驴.
Ley took over as opposition leader from Peter Dutton after the Coalition鈥檚 landslide loss. (Alex Ellinghausen)
Ley said she was not sold on any specific way of getting women into elected positions, but she was determined to do it.
茂禄驴鈥滻鈥檓 agnostic about how we get more women, but I鈥檓 an absolute zealot that we make it happen,鈥 she said.
鈥淭he federated model of the Liberal Party means that state divisions determine their own pre-selection policies and how they go about this.
鈥淚 welcome it all about how we get there 鈥 we should be having that discussion, but I鈥檓 not seeing anyone disagree with the fact that we must get there.鈥
She said the men of the Liberal Party were 鈥渟ome of our strongest advocates鈥 for getting more women into the party.
Then opposition leader Tony Abbott in front of a 鈥渄itch the witch鈥 poster at a rally outside Parliament House in 2011. (Andrew Meares /SMH)
Duttons return to the office policy sparked huge controversy that it would negatively impact mothers working from home (Getty)
A Coalition policy at this year鈥檚 election that would have seen public servants forced back into the office was ditched after backlash茂禄驴 that it would negatively impact mothers who worked from home.
Ley was elected as the new opposition leader following the loss, making history as the first female leader of the Liberal Party. 茂禄驴
茂禄驴鈥漌hen I came into the parliament in 2001, more women in Australia voted Liberal than for any other party,鈥 Ley said this morning.
鈥淣ow, that number has been declining ever since鈥 we鈥檝e got to arrest that decline.鈥