Scott Morrison wants women to rise but not solely at expense of others

Scott Morrison has suggested that women’s advancement should not come at the expense of men, in an address to mark International Women’s Day.

Speaking to the Chamber of Minerals and Energy in Western Australia on Friday, Morrison said the Liberal party wanted women to rise but did not “want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse”.

The prime minister’s comments echo remarks by the minister for women, Kelly O’Dwyer, at the National Press Club in November, rejecting the view that “girls doing well must mean that boys do badly”.

Morrison said O’Dwyer’s message was that “gender equality isn’t about pitting girls against boys”.

“See, we’re not about setting Australians against each other, trying to push some down to lift others up,” he said.

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“That is an absolutely liberal value, that you don’t push some people down to lift some people up. And that is true about gender equality too.

“We want to see women rise. But we don’t want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse.

“We want everybody to do better, and we want to see the rise of women in this country be accelerated to ensure that their overall place is maintained.”

Labor’s deputy leader and shadow women’s minister, Tanya Plibersek, responded that gender equality “is good for both women and men”.

“It gives all of us more freedom and choice at work, at home, and in our relationships,” she said.

“Feminism is a fight for equality between men and women, what’s so complicated about that?”

Morrison said he and his wife Jenny wanted their two daughters to “have all the choices in life that you would hope that they would have”.

He highlighted the role of the economy in women’s advancement, and said that for women and girls to have choices, “our economy has to be strong”.

“You look around the world, where women face their biggest challenges and struggles – they’re in the developing countries of the world.

“Prosperity brings with it its opportunities, of course it does, for every person.”

In November, O’Dwyer said women’s advancement was “not about conflict”. “It’s about recognising that girls and women deserve an equal stake in our economy and our society.”

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Earlier on Friday, O’Dwyer was forced to defend the Coalition’s record on gender equality. In the 45th parliament, 42% of Labor’s federal parliamentarians are women; for the Liberals the figure is 21% and for the Nationals just 14%.

“I think it’s fair to say in terms of representation in parliament we can do better – I’m not going to deny that,” O’Dwyer told Radio National.

“What I would say – we have record number of women in cabinet, we have seven women who sit around the cabinet table where the decisions of government are made.”

Morrison said that since August, the Liberal party had selected 19 women as candidates for the coming election.

On Saturday, he promoted Liberal senator Linda Reynolds into the cabinet, in the role of defence industry minister.