"Girls can do anything and in particular they can do engineering," he told a Melbourne event celebrating women in science, technology, engineering and manufacturing. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull could've been richer. Credit:Andrew Meares "And you've seen so many impressive, talented women who are engineers," he effused, singling out "Robogals", a not-for-profit seeking to increase female participation in STEM. "You're changing the world one girl at a time. Think about it," he said, flanked by Assistant Minister for Science Karen Andrews, the second woman to graduate in mechanical engineering at the Queensland University of Technology. While Mr Turnbull happily claimed the feminist title, in 2014 Senator Cash said she had "never been someone who really associates with that movement" and "set of ideologies", saying that she believed in women and men.

Later that year, Ms Bishop said she didn't find the term feminist "particularly useful these days" and didn't feel the need to "self-describe in that way". Mr Turnbull with the Teleport robot developed by Marita Cheng at Engineers Australia in Melbourne on Monday. Credit:Andrew Meares Earlier on Monday in the Liberal seat of Higgins, where Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer is fending off rising Greens popularity, the Prime Minister told a women and girls in sport morning tea that "girls can do anything". "Standing next to me are two remarkable women. Jo [Weston, professional netballer] and Kelly are great role models for you. What they show you is that you can do anything. Illustration by Cathy Wilcox

"You can play for Australia, you can be a cabinet minister." As he sought to weave together the government's innovation agenda and female empowerment, there is also a belief that Mr Turnbull's personal story, from his difficult childhood to his success in business, is a vote winner for the Coalition. "It's important to honour your parents. It's important to honour your father," Mr Turnbull said, when asked about the new campaign ad. "I was brought up by my father. He taught me so many things," he continued, before getting emotional as he described his father's "remarkable" conduct when his mother left them. "He never, ever said a bad word about her. You think about how rare that is. He never uttered a critical word of my mother in all those years. "