Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Personally, I couldn’t care less what the gender of our leaders is. As long as the best person for the job is chosen—that is, people are chosen on merit—that’s all I care about.
That said, gender in politics has become a major issue. It’s easy for some people to say, “gender doesn’t matter.” Well, it does matter, in that males and females are not the same, both from a biological and a social perspective. Not to mention that half the population is female and the other half male. So to say that “gender doesn’t matter,” is kind of idealistic nonsense.
In reality, many men prefer male leaders, and many women want to see more female leaders, and that’s just the reality of it. But it’s certainly not the be-all and end-all. Personally, I’d rather vote for a down-to-earth, common-sense woman than a woke man, and I’m sure many of you would do the same.
But it is interesting to observe what the Liberal Party—Australia’s prominent right-wing party—has been doing this year regarding gender and leadership. Perhaps out of desperation to win more votes, they’ve gone on a female recruitment drive.
In May this year, the BBC reported: “Sussan Ley: Australia’s Liberal Party names first female leader.” Just a few days ago, the ABC reported: “Jess Wilson becomes first woman to lead Victorian Liberals.” Noting that she’s a first-term MP. And now, in a pattern that clearly isn’t coincidental, the NSW Liberals are joining in on the action: “‘I’m ready to work’: Kellie Sloane elected NSW Liberal leader.” Noting she’s also a first-term MP.
Remember what I said at the start? As long as the best person for the job is chosen, that’s all I care about. One must question whether a first-term MP is the best person for the job.
I wonder how many men have been elected leader within their first term? I would suggest it is extremely rare.
The only notable modern example that I can find is Zak Kirkup from the Western Australian Liberals. In November 2020, the ABC reported: “WA Liberals elect 33-year-old first-term MP to lead the party into March election.” And how did that end? The Guardian reported just four months later: “Mark McGowan leads Labor landslide in WA as Liberals’ worst fears are realised. A humiliating defeat to Zak Kirkup’s Liberal party.” Yes, the first-term Mr. Kirkup led his party to a total wipeout and lost his own seat—the first WA leader to do so in 88 years!
I mean, even our esteemed leader Anthony Albanese was first elected in 1996, not becoming PM until 26 years later! It’s just interesting that these two ladies have been promoted to leader so quickly. Is it a mistake? I don’t know, I guess we’ll find out in the upcoming Victorian and New South Wales elections over the next couple of years.
The new leader, Kellie Sloane, is actually the third female leader of the NSW Liberals.
The first was Kerry Chikarovski. After only a few months in the job, she lost the 1999 state election to Labor Premier Bob Carr in a landslide.
The second was Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned as Premier after being investigated for corruption.
Of course, Women’s Agenda was excited by the recent news, reporting: “NSW Liberals elect Kellie Sloane unanimously as leader. Kellie Sloane has been elected as leader of the NSW Liberal Party. For the first time, the party will have an all-female leadership team.”
Unsurprisingly, a publication 100% owned and run by women is happy when more women are in positions of power.
As I said, the Liberals seem to be on a female recruitment push. They even have a web page dedicated to Liberal Women where you can browse through a whole bunch of parliamentarians who don’t have XY chromosomes.
So there we have it, another female Liberal leader in Australia. Will it turn the tide in the upcoming elections? Or is this recent obsession with gender going to have the opposite effect?
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
Personally, I couldn’t care less what the gender of our leaders is. As long as the best person for the job is chosen—that is, people are chosen on merit—that’s all I care about.
That said, gender in politics has become a major issue. It’s easy for some people to say, “gender doesn’t matter.” Well, it does matter, in that males and females are not the same, both from a biological and a social perspective. Not to mention that half the population is female and the other half male. So to say that “gender doesn’t matter,” is kind of idealistic nonsense.
In reality, many men prefer male leaders, and many women want to see more female leaders, and that’s just the reality of it. But it’s certainly not the be-all and end-all. Personally, I’d rather vote for a down-to-earth, common-sense woman than a woke man, and I’m sure many of you would do the same.
But it is interesting to observe what the Liberal Party—Australia’s prominent right-wing party—has been doing this year regarding gender and leadership. Perhaps out of desperation to win more votes, they’ve gone on a female recruitment drive.
In May this year, the BBC reported: “Sussan Ley: Australia’s Liberal Party names first female leader.” Just a few days ago, the ABC reported: “Jess Wilson becomes first woman to lead Victorian Liberals.” Noting that she’s a first-term MP. And now, in a pattern that clearly isn’t coincidental, the NSW Liberals are joining in on the action: “‘I’m ready to work’: Kellie Sloane elected NSW Liberal leader.” Noting she’s also a first-term MP.
Remember what I said at the start? As long as the best person for the job is chosen, that’s all I care about. One must question whether a first-term MP is the best person for the job.
I wonder how many men have been elected leader within their first term? I would suggest it is extremely rare.
The only notable modern example that I can find is Zak Kirkup from the Western Australian Liberals. In November 2020, the ABC reported: “WA Liberals elect 33-year-old first-term MP to lead the party into March election.” And how did that end? The Guardian reported just four months later: “Mark McGowan leads Labor landslide in WA as Liberals’ worst fears are realised. A humiliating defeat to Zak Kirkup’s Liberal party.” Yes, the first-term Mr. Kirkup led his party to a total wipeout and lost his own seat—the first WA leader to do so in 88 years!
I mean, even our esteemed leader Anthony Albanese was first elected in 1996, not becoming PM until 26 years later! It’s just interesting that these two ladies have been promoted to leader so quickly. Is it a mistake? I don’t know, I guess we’ll find out in the upcoming Victorian and New South Wales elections over the next couple of years.
The new leader, Kellie Sloane, is actually the third female leader of the NSW Liberals.
The first was Kerry Chikarovski. After only a few months in the job, she lost the 1999 state election to Labor Premier Bob Carr in a landslide.
The second was Gladys Berejiklian, who resigned as Premier after being investigated for corruption.
Of course, Women’s Agenda was excited by the recent news, reporting: “NSW Liberals elect Kellie Sloane unanimously as leader. Kellie Sloane has been elected as leader of the NSW Liberal Party. For the first time, the party will have an all-female leadership team.”
Unsurprisingly, a publication 100% owned and run by women is happy when more women are in positions of power.
As I said, the Liberals seem to be on a female recruitment push. They even have a web page dedicated to Liberal Women where you can browse through a whole bunch of parliamentarians who don’t have XY chromosomes.
So there we have it, another female Liberal leader in Australia. Will it turn the tide in the upcoming elections? Or is this recent obsession with gender going to have the opposite effect?
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
