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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘I was completely singled out': Sussan Ley's past fuels her determination to fix party's future
A former shearer, a pilot and a mother of three children with a dark past as a punk in Canberra. For 10 years, Sussan Ley has been one of the few women in the room in successive Liberal cabinets. Now, she's the federal opposition leader, and one of her first acts has been peeling back the existential scabs of the party itself. But who is Ley, really? Speaking with host Jacqueline Maley and chief political commentator James Massola in a new Inside Politics podcast episode, Ley opens up about the personal experiences fuelling her to fix the Liberal Party's infamous 'woman problem' from the top, to ultimately tackle the gender-based problems her constituents face with legislation. Click the player below to listen to the full episode, or read on for an edited extract of the conversation. Maley: Y ou say that the modern Liberal Party needs to represent all Australians, and it's, you know, that you have a diversity there, but very famously, it hasn't really represented women to the extent that it could have, which is why the Liberals' female vote has been declining so precipitously over the last few decades. Just first of all, before we get into that, would you call yourself a feminist? Ley: Well, yes, I would. And it's interesting, because the word feminist isn't used much. It was used a lot when I was trying to get into the... and I'll tell you what I mean by feminist, because I used it in the era when, you know, the people who own corporate jets didn't want me flying them, who said to me, quietly, 'We don't have a job for you because... it's not us, Sussan, it's just that the travelling public doesn't really want to see a woman up the front,' and, you know, 'Come back next year.' Loading Sure, that was something that, you know, burned in me, how I was completely singled out. Never mind my qualifications, my licence, all of the things I'd done... it was simply because of my gender. So, we didn't do well with women. I just want to confront that. I want to acknowledge that. I want to say that since in 2001 when I came into parliament, more women in Australia voted for us than they did anyone else, and that number has been declining ever since, which is why I am so determined and so insistent that we fix this women's problem. Maley: You gave an address to the National Press Club this week, which was really strong, and we both were really interested in it. You talked in that address about coercive control and domestic violence, and you said that you knew what coercive control felt like. Do you want to elaborate on that at all? Have you had personal experience with it? Ley: Look, I have had personal experiences, and I don't choose to share them publicly, but I want the women of Australia to know that I know, and that I'm with them, and that I understand how it feels and what it's like, and how sometimes, only looking back, can you really understand what went on.
The Age
a day ago
- Politics
- The Age
‘I was completely singled out': Sussan Ley's past fuels her determination to fix party's future
A former shearer, a pilot and a mother of three children with a dark past as a punk in Canberra. For 10 years, Sussan Ley has been one of the few women in the room in successive Liberal cabinets. Now, she's the federal opposition leader, and one of her first acts has been peeling back the existential scabs of the party itself. But who is Ley, really? Speaking with host Jacqueline Maley and chief political commentator James Massola in a new Inside Politics podcast episode, Ley opens up about the personal experiences fuelling her to fix the Liberal Party's infamous 'woman problem' from the top, to ultimately tackle the gender-based problems her constituents face with legislation. Click the player below to listen to the full episode, or read on for an edited extract of the conversation. Maley: Y ou say that the modern Liberal Party needs to represent all Australians, and it's, you know, that you have a diversity there, but very famously, it hasn't really represented women to the extent that it could have, which is why the Liberals' female vote has been declining so precipitously over the last few decades. Just first of all, before we get into that, would you call yourself a feminist? Ley: Well, yes, I would. And it's interesting, because the word feminist isn't used much. It was used a lot when I was trying to get into the... and I'll tell you what I mean by feminist, because I used it in the era when, you know, the people who own corporate jets didn't want me flying them, who said to me, quietly, 'We don't have a job for you because... it's not us, Sussan, it's just that the travelling public doesn't really want to see a woman up the front,' and, you know, 'Come back next year.' Loading Sure, that was something that, you know, burned in me, how I was completely singled out. Never mind my qualifications, my licence, all of the things I'd done... it was simply because of my gender. So, we didn't do well with women. I just want to confront that. I want to acknowledge that. I want to say that since in 2001 when I came into parliament, more women in Australia voted for us than they did anyone else, and that number has been declining ever since, which is why I am so determined and so insistent that we fix this women's problem. Maley: You gave an address to the National Press Club this week, which was really strong, and we both were really interested in it. You talked in that address about coercive control and domestic violence, and you said that you knew what coercive control felt like. Do you want to elaborate on that at all? Have you had personal experience with it? Ley: Look, I have had personal experiences, and I don't choose to share them publicly, but I want the women of Australia to know that I know, and that I'm with them, and that I understand how it feels and what it's like, and how sometimes, only looking back, can you really understand what went on.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Parliament in shock over unexpected death of MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp
Updated This is a transcript of the Premium Politics newsletter. To sign up, click here, select 'Inside Politics with Audrey Young' and save your preferences. Welcome to Inside Politics. MPs and Te Pāti Māori in particular will be in shock today after the unexpected, aged 50, the MP for the Auckland seat of Tāmaki Makaurau.
NZ Herald
19-06-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Cook Islands crisis complicates Christopher Luxon's big meeting with China's Xi Jinping
This is a transcript of the Premium Politics newsletter. To sign up, click here, select 'Inside Politics with Audrey Young' and save your preferences. Welcome to Inside Politics. Christopher Luxon's meeting tomorrow with Xi Jinping, the President of China, was going to be important enough, given
Sydney Morning Herald
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Israel-Iran war: 3000 Australians in Middle East registered for evacuation
Wong said the closure of airspace complicates the government's ability to assist people while she anticipates more Australians will want to leave in coming days and weeks. 'Those numbers, I anticipate will continue to climb. They've certainly increased over the last few days in Iran, the situation is obviously very challenging and our advice is to leave, if safe to do so, otherwise, to shelter,' she said. The crisis forced US President Donald Trump to cut short his attendance at the G7 in Canada, resulting in a first face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese being cancelled. Albanese and senior ministers, including Wong, have repeatedly argued the cancellation was understandable as war in the Middle East would be a priority for Trump. Overnight, the president remained non-committal on whether the US would join Israel's attack on Iran. 'I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do,' Trump said when asked if he is moving closer to striking Iran's nuclear facilities, adding that Tehran had reached out about the possibility of negotiations. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned any US strike would have serious consequences. More to come. Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
