Leaked messages show the Liberal Party's gender debate
In messages obtained by the Daily Telegraph, former party vice-president Teena McQueen labels the push for quotas as 'Disgraceful'
Others in the party have been vocal about the changes, including Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor, who took on Sussan Ley for the position of Opposition Leader.
The WhatsApp fury is in the wake of the New South Wales Liberal Women's Council meeting this week, where they discussed boosting female representation in parliament.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
NSW Liberals consider adopting US style primaries for elections
The New South Wales Liberal Party is considering adopting a US-style primary system when selecting its election candidates. The Daily Telegraph reported that members of the public will be able to vote on who should represent the major party under the proposed system. The plan is gaining increasing popularity from senior Liberal figures, such as Shadow Defence Minister Angus Taylor.
Sky News AU
14 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Sideshow': Mundine's Liberal Party dig
Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has doubled down on his dig at the Liberal Party's proposal to introduce gender quotas. On the weekend, Mr Mundine said the Liberal Party lost the federal election due to running a 'crap campaign', not because of its female representation. Mr Mundine said the gender quota debate was a 'sideshow' and a 'diversion' from the real issues, such as the New South Wales Liberal Party being put under administration after it did not register 140 candidates for local government. 'That's cost us a lot of good people,' he told Sky News on Monday. 'Yes, we need more women getting out there, and we had some brilliant women who were in that campaign, but they didn't get elected, and they didn't get elected because we had a crap campaign. 'So let's get back to the real issues.' Asked about his 'slippery slope' remark in The Saturday Telegraph - in which he said if gender quotas are the start, there could later be quotas for people of colour - Mr Mundine said more work had to be done across the whole Australian electorate and suggested the party could attract women and young people into politics while focusing on not losing members. 'A political party survives because they focus on the needs of the Australian people and if they answer that question, they answer those needs,' he said. 'We need to look after our members, look after supporters and keep them in the party and attract other people in the party, attract women, attract young people. Now, that's what we should be focusing on rather than having this sideshow, this diversionary thing, which is not going to win us a vote anyway.' Mr Mundine said the Liberal Party should be focussing instead on 'why we lost the election'. 'Why, in Victoria, in 30 years, we've only been in power for four years? Why is it that we've got a useless government in Victoria but we can't even look like winning it?' he said. It comes after Opposition Leader Sussan Ley described herself as 'zealot' towards the issue of increasing female representation within the Liberal Party in her first address to the National Press Club last week. "If some state divisions choose to implement quotas, that is fine. If others don't, that is also fine," she said in her speech. "But what is not fine is not having enough women. As the first woman leader of our federal party, let me send the clearest possible message: We need to do better, recruit better, retain better and support better." On Friday, The Daily Telegraph revealed a 'quotas v merit' WhatsApp group chat was flooded with messages from outraged Liberal Party members after a NSW Liberals Women's Council meeting on Wednesday, where the idea of gender quotas was discussed. Members of the chat slammed a petition created in May calling for gender quotas to be introduced within the party ranks. Former Liberal Party vice president Teena McQueen was among those to blast a petition on the issue being posted publicly - a move she called "disgraceful'. 'FFS … no one struggling to pay the bills cares one bit about quotas,' Ms McQueen said in the chat, later adding 'What absolute moron is behind this?'. Ms McQueen told Sky News on Friday evening that she had been watching the chat for a week prior to contributing to the since-leaked conversation. 'And then I suddenly thought... we've got no policies. You know, people are struggling, as I said, to pay their bills ... and you guys, your greatest concern is quotas?' Ms McQueen said. 'So, I guess it was the frustration that to win elections, we need to care about things that matter and have decent policies on the table.'
The Advertiser
17 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Pox on both your houses': Victoria voters unimpressed
Major party leaders have refused to buy into a new poll after it indicated an incumbent state Labor government was on track to secure a fourth consecutive term in power. More Victorian voters believe Opposition Leader Brad Battin would make a better state premier than the incumbent, Labor's Jacinta Allan. But the Liberal Party leader's preferred premier status, at 41 per cent to Ms Allan's 36 per cent, doesn't appear to be enough to convince voters to back the coalition into government, according to a Newspoll. The poll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows Labor's primary vote is now even with the opposition at 35 per cent. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is ahead 53 per cent against 47 per cent for the coalition. Ms Allan, whose government has increasingly been on the nose with the public, said she was focused on issues important to voters instead of the "disarray" within the Victorian Liberal Party. "I'm focused on what matters to Victorians, to working people and their families," she told reporters. Mr Battin highlighted his party's policies around crime and housing and took credit for the government's changes to their reforms on bail and a machete ban. "Polls come and go, and I've been working pretty hard each and every day and making sure that the community is aware of what we are doing," he said. Newspoll head Campbell White told The Australian "this is a 'pox on both your houses'". "However, while there is a swing (toward the coalition) it is relatively modest and not sufficient for the government to change," he said. The premier took the opportunity to lambast the opposition after it had been embroiled in infighting and a leadership spill, involving first-term MP Moira Deeming. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal Party room after attending a Let Women Speak rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis but welcomed back in December after John Pesutto lost the leadership. Mr Pesutto was then ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming in an ongoing court battle. "It is clear that they're extreme, they're divided, they're reckless, they don't trust each other, and therefore, why should Victorians trust them?" Ms Allan said. Mr Battin conceded his party has had "internal issues that have been frustrating" but insisted his team is competent and will give a "real good run" at the next election. "It's not about us. It's not about our internal politics. It's about everyday Victorians who, at the moment are struggling," he said. The poll of 1071 voters has a margin of error of 3.42 per cent and was conducted on June 23-30. Victorian voters head to the polls in November 2026. Major party leaders have refused to buy into a new poll after it indicated an incumbent state Labor government was on track to secure a fourth consecutive term in power. More Victorian voters believe Opposition Leader Brad Battin would make a better state premier than the incumbent, Labor's Jacinta Allan. But the Liberal Party leader's preferred premier status, at 41 per cent to Ms Allan's 36 per cent, doesn't appear to be enough to convince voters to back the coalition into government, according to a Newspoll. The poll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows Labor's primary vote is now even with the opposition at 35 per cent. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is ahead 53 per cent against 47 per cent for the coalition. Ms Allan, whose government has increasingly been on the nose with the public, said she was focused on issues important to voters instead of the "disarray" within the Victorian Liberal Party. "I'm focused on what matters to Victorians, to working people and their families," she told reporters. Mr Battin highlighted his party's policies around crime and housing and took credit for the government's changes to their reforms on bail and a machete ban. "Polls come and go, and I've been working pretty hard each and every day and making sure that the community is aware of what we are doing," he said. Newspoll head Campbell White told The Australian "this is a 'pox on both your houses'". "However, while there is a swing (toward the coalition) it is relatively modest and not sufficient for the government to change," he said. The premier took the opportunity to lambast the opposition after it had been embroiled in infighting and a leadership spill, involving first-term MP Moira Deeming. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal Party room after attending a Let Women Speak rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis but welcomed back in December after John Pesutto lost the leadership. Mr Pesutto was then ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming in an ongoing court battle. "It is clear that they're extreme, they're divided, they're reckless, they don't trust each other, and therefore, why should Victorians trust them?" Ms Allan said. Mr Battin conceded his party has had "internal issues that have been frustrating" but insisted his team is competent and will give a "real good run" at the next election. "It's not about us. It's not about our internal politics. It's about everyday Victorians who, at the moment are struggling," he said. The poll of 1071 voters has a margin of error of 3.42 per cent and was conducted on June 23-30. Victorian voters head to the polls in November 2026. Major party leaders have refused to buy into a new poll after it indicated an incumbent state Labor government was on track to secure a fourth consecutive term in power. More Victorian voters believe Opposition Leader Brad Battin would make a better state premier than the incumbent, Labor's Jacinta Allan. But the Liberal Party leader's preferred premier status, at 41 per cent to Ms Allan's 36 per cent, doesn't appear to be enough to convince voters to back the coalition into government, according to a Newspoll. The poll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows Labor's primary vote is now even with the opposition at 35 per cent. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is ahead 53 per cent against 47 per cent for the coalition. Ms Allan, whose government has increasingly been on the nose with the public, said she was focused on issues important to voters instead of the "disarray" within the Victorian Liberal Party. "I'm focused on what matters to Victorians, to working people and their families," she told reporters. Mr Battin highlighted his party's policies around crime and housing and took credit for the government's changes to their reforms on bail and a machete ban. "Polls come and go, and I've been working pretty hard each and every day and making sure that the community is aware of what we are doing," he said. Newspoll head Campbell White told The Australian "this is a 'pox on both your houses'". "However, while there is a swing (toward the coalition) it is relatively modest and not sufficient for the government to change," he said. The premier took the opportunity to lambast the opposition after it had been embroiled in infighting and a leadership spill, involving first-term MP Moira Deeming. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal Party room after attending a Let Women Speak rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis but welcomed back in December after John Pesutto lost the leadership. Mr Pesutto was then ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming in an ongoing court battle. "It is clear that they're extreme, they're divided, they're reckless, they don't trust each other, and therefore, why should Victorians trust them?" Ms Allan said. Mr Battin conceded his party has had "internal issues that have been frustrating" but insisted his team is competent and will give a "real good run" at the next election. "It's not about us. It's not about our internal politics. It's about everyday Victorians who, at the moment are struggling," he said. The poll of 1071 voters has a margin of error of 3.42 per cent and was conducted on June 23-30. Victorian voters head to the polls in November 2026. Major party leaders have refused to buy into a new poll after it indicated an incumbent state Labor government was on track to secure a fourth consecutive term in power. More Victorian voters believe Opposition Leader Brad Battin would make a better state premier than the incumbent, Labor's Jacinta Allan. But the Liberal Party leader's preferred premier status, at 41 per cent to Ms Allan's 36 per cent, doesn't appear to be enough to convince voters to back the coalition into government, according to a Newspoll. The poll, published in The Australian on Monday, shows Labor's primary vote is now even with the opposition at 35 per cent. On a two-party preferred basis, Labor is ahead 53 per cent against 47 per cent for the coalition. Ms Allan, whose government has increasingly been on the nose with the public, said she was focused on issues important to voters instead of the "disarray" within the Victorian Liberal Party. "I'm focused on what matters to Victorians, to working people and their families," she told reporters. Mr Battin highlighted his party's policies around crime and housing and took credit for the government's changes to their reforms on bail and a machete ban. "Polls come and go, and I've been working pretty hard each and every day and making sure that the community is aware of what we are doing," he said. Newspoll head Campbell White told The Australian "this is a 'pox on both your houses'". "However, while there is a swing (toward the coalition) it is relatively modest and not sufficient for the government to change," he said. The premier took the opportunity to lambast the opposition after it had been embroiled in infighting and a leadership spill, involving first-term MP Moira Deeming. Mrs Deeming was expelled from the Liberal Party room after attending a Let Women Speak rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis but welcomed back in December after John Pesutto lost the leadership. Mr Pesutto was then ordered to pay $2.3 million in legal costs to Mrs Deeming in an ongoing court battle. "It is clear that they're extreme, they're divided, they're reckless, they don't trust each other, and therefore, why should Victorians trust them?" Ms Allan said. Mr Battin conceded his party has had "internal issues that have been frustrating" but insisted his team is competent and will give a "real good run" at the next election. "It's not about us. It's not about our internal politics. It's about everyday Victorians who, at the moment are struggling," he said. The poll of 1071 voters has a margin of error of 3.42 per cent and was conducted on June 23-30. Victorian voters head to the polls in November 2026.
