Victorian MP says politics is decades behind business in equality and calls for quotas

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Liberal MP Julia Banks has taken aim at “appalling” behaviour in federal parliament including bullying, intimidation and harassment.

On Wednesday evening the first-term Victorian MP, who is quitting politics at the next election, joined a growing push for quotas to increase female representation in the Liberal Party and warned leaders not to sweep bullying allegations “under the carpet”.

“In my political journey a culture of appalling behaviour has been widespread, pervasive and undermining like white ants,” she told the House of Representatives.

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The MP for Chisholm announced two weeks ago that she was quitting parliament after only one term because of the bullying she had witnessed during the Liberal leadership spill.

But the corporate-lawyer-turned-politician told MPs on Wednesday night that she had received a great deal of support for her remarks and voters were tired of the major parties “sweeping issues under the carpet”.

“[Women] represent half the population and so should a modern Liberal party,” Banks told the lower house on Wednesday night as she endorsed the use of gender quotas.

“Quotas are not demeaning to women and nor will women be regarded as the ‘quota girl’.”

Banks said parliament was a decade behind the business world in promoting women to leadership positions.

In the corporate sector, targets can be tied to incentives and performance measures, but this was not the case in politics.

“There are equal numbers meritorious Liberal woman out there in the real world as there are men,” Banks said. “It’s really simple if you only have a man running and you can’t find a woman: find one.”

The Liberal-National Coalition has just 22 female MPs and senators. Reports of bullying in the leadership spill have led to calls for quotas for female representation from former workplace relations minister Craig Laundy and Morrison government frontbencher Sussan Ley.

On Thursday the prime minister Scott Morrison responded to Banks’ speech by acknowledging the past few weeks had been “a pretty harrowing time” in the Liberal party.

“My approach is to get around and support colleagues and ensure there’s the support available to them that they need,” he said.

Other Liberals who have called out bullying – including senators Linda Reynolds and Lucy Gicuhi – have accepted that complaints will now be dealt with internally, despite earlier calling for public consequences for the alleged bullies.

Morrison has said although MPs and senators were subject to “intense lobbying” he was satisfied there was “no gender specific lobbying or pressure placed on members”.