Attorney-General defends dismissal of quotas amid sweeping gender reforms
The Morrison government today announced sweeping sexual harassment laws to tackle workplace misconduct.
But gender quotas, which have received a large deal of attention in the broader debate of women’s issues, were not included in the changes.
Attorney-General Michaelia Cash told Joe Hildebrand gender quotas aren’t the “ultimate answer”, because they won’t go deep enough to solve deep-rooted issues.
“If you actually don’t change the behaviour, if you don’t change the way you look at pre-selection, if you don’t go out and actually get that pipeline of women who want to enter parliament…
“I think that quotas, really, it may increase the numbers, but it’s not actually tackling what all the other issues are.”
Senator Cash said the government would be better to prioritise a more “holistic response”.
“It’s got to be about addressing everything, including the way you treat women, the culture in the workplace, how you attract women into the party; all of that needs to be addressed.”
Click PLAY below to hear Michaelia Cash’s full breakdown of the laws