WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas says 'everything on table' to increase party's female MPs

Australia Broadcast Center

06-05-2025

WA Liberal leader Basil Zempilas has committed to doing "whatever it takes" to increase the party's female members, not ruling out 50:50 quotas for candidate preselection at the next state election.
His comments came as several elders in the Liberal Party reflected on its "women problem" in their post-mortems of the election thrashing, including retiring senator Linda Reynolds who on Monday labelled the defeat a "comprehensive failure".
Linda Reynolds says the Liberal Party has a problem attracting female candidates.
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ABC News: Jake Sturmer
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Mr Zempilas admitted the party's federal problems also exist in WA.
"It is very clear, it is impossible to dispute, we do not have enough women who are part of the WA Liberal Party team," Mr Zempilas told the ABC.
"That is a fact that cannot be ignored."
'Looking at everything'
It's something Mr Zempilas said he plans to address by "looking at everything" — including 50:50 quotas at the 2029 state election.
"I understand quotas are difficult to implement with our preselection system, and I understand the view that they are 'un-Liberal like', but my view is where we are today, everything has to be on the table," he said.
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That has to include a genuine and serious conversation about quotas if that's what it will take to get greater female representation.
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The idea of quotas had been rejected by the party in the past,
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peter dutton jacob greber piece
The Liberal Party has been told it has a women problem for years now, but you only have to look at its results in Western Australia to see how it's still struggling to make progress.
Mr Zempilas said he has spoken with his state Liberal colleagues who all have a "huge appetite" to increase the party's relevance, starting with its uptake of female members.
"That seems to be the issue at the moment for the WA Liberal Party and for the Liberal Party more broadly: are we connecting with enough people to be able to demonstrate to them that we're speaking their language, we know what they need, we understand the sort of leadership that they want?" he said.
"That is the problem at the moment, so relevance, a relevant message, relevant policy, relevant candidate selection."
Mr Zempilas said that started with its uptake of female members.
The Liberals currently hold seven lower house seats in the WA parliament, but only two are held by females — deputy leader of the opposition Libby Mettam being one, and Cottesloe MP Sandra Brewer the other.
Sandra Brewer is one of two Liberal members in the lower house of WA's parliament.
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ABC News: Jake Sturmer
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"I want to see more female candidates, and I want to see more women elected into the parliamentary Liberal Party," Mr Zempilas said.
"I would like to lead a Liberal Party in the Parliament of Western Australia that is as close to, or perhaps even past, a 50:50 gender split."
Mr Zempilas did however note work has already begun to improve the party's make-up.
"I do know out of the review that took place after the 2021 [state] election, there was a significant emphasis placed on recruiting more female candidates," he said.
Basil Zempilas says the Liberal Party has a lot of work to do.
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ABC News: Keane Bourke
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"I know there has been a program run that's been done to identify female candidates and then to mentor them, to assist with fundraising and to assist with the preselection process."
Leadership challenge 'brutal'
While that is a strong commitment, there are members of the public who view Mr Zempilas himself as a contributor to the problem.
Mr Zempilas took over from Ms Mettam soon after the state poll in March, following her announcement she would not seek re-election because she didn't have the support of the party.
"I had private conversations with my colleagues but it is very clear that my colleagues were seeking a new direction of the Liberal Party going forward," Ms Mettam said at the time.
But it wasn't the first time her leadership was challenged.
Photo shows
Ken Wyatt looks directly at the camera on a suburban street.
A former Liberal elder who quit the party after leaving federal parliament lashes his previous colleagues, urging them to become more inclusive in the wake of another bruising election result.
In November, leaked polling which showed the Liberals' primary vote could be 7 per cent higher with Mr Zempilas as leader prompted a party room challenge — something Mr Zempilas has denied being involved with.
Nevertheless, the polling was something Ms Mettam described as "brutal" for the party.
"All of those things can be said [that the polling undermined Ms Mettam], the fact of the matter is after the most recent state election the leader of the Liberal Party stood down … and then at that point I put my hand up and was elected unopposed," he said.
Leadership tussle aside, Mr Zempilas said as leader he's "championing more women in our parliament representing the Liberal Party" as a top priority.
"We need to pick great female candidates and we need to put them in seats where they can win," he said.
Elders agree
Mr Zempilas's comments echo
"Ten years ago I was part of a review into gender … and we recommended targets and how to get there without quotas," Ms Reynolds said on Monday.
"That's been the Liberal Party policy for 10 years but it's just sat on a shelf."
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Mr Wyatt agreed the party needs to
"I have seen it in my party when I was a member, women offering ideas but the ideas not being accepted," Mr Wyatt said.
"But then later, that same idea being offered up by a male and being accepted."
Liberals sources told the ABC the party has a brand and image problem and needs more strong female candidates preselected for state and federal seats.
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