PRESENCE AND THE PRICE: Women and the 2007 Australian Federal Election

In the excitement of a change of government, a singular feature of the 2007 election went largely unnoticed. Despite the increased presence of Labor women, & the defeat of the Prime Minister in his own seat by Maxine McKew's 'purple army', it was the first time for more than 20 years that the ALP had gone to the polls without a women's policy. Campaign strategists seemed to have decided that any mention of women must be suppressed, in case the famous heartland voters being wooed back to Labor by the anti-WorkChoices campaign took fright. The women's movement itself was no longer seen as a significant political constituency. As a consequence, any good policies to undo the damage to women's equality of the Howard years were well concealed behind campaign shrubbery. Feminists had to take it on trust that the diverse array of Labor women on the front bench would result in renewed progress towards woman-friendly policy. The lack of connection between women contestants & explicit women's policy, at least as far as the major parties were concerned, raised important issues concerning the relationship between descriptive & substantive representation. Adapted from the source document.