A democratic victory?
By Kath Gelber
From the year 2002 women will hold at least 35% of ALP seats in both state and federal parliaments in Australia, according to an agreement reached by the ALP national executive which is expected to cause controversy when it is put to the National Conference in Hobart later this month.
If women do not achieve 35% of preselections in what are considered "winnable seats", the party executive will have the right to overturn branch decisions in order to force compliance with the quota.
It's a decision that has been hailed as a victory for women in the ALP and, by implication, women in Australia. Carmen Lawrence added that she thinks it's only a matter of time before a 50% quota is implemented.
But the decision has broader ramifications than simply the number of sisters in suits we end up with in parliament.
For example, does this mean they will implement different policies? NSW Labor MLC Meredith Burgmann was quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald as saying she thinks parliament will become more "civilised" when women make up a higher proportion of its members — a reference both to the policy of parliament sitting until the small hours of the morning, and to her opinion that " women behave better collectively".
Strong stuff — but reason enough to support the proposal?
In terms of legislation, Burgmann apparently feels increased women's presence will lead to legislation which reflects a less economically "rationalist" point of view.
It's all a bit reminiscent of the arguments of those on the left who have remained within the ALP during its reign of wage cutting and welfare slashing. If only enough of us get in, we can change the ALP from within. If only there are enough women, or lefties, we can implement policies that won't be so bad.
All the evidence points to the contrary — just as the left has never been able to control the ALP's policies, which favour big business, the women in the ALP will not be able to change that party's direction to favour women just because they are women.
The ALP left faction, in fact, opposes the affirmative action policy. But not for these reasons. The left claim that because it gives the national executive the power to override branches, implementing affirmative action in this way would give the right too much power.
They have a point. There is already precious little real democracy in the workings of the ALP. National Conference decisions made by the membership are regularly and almost automatically overridden by cabinet. Numbers-crunching in internal factional disputes has had whole football teams joining some local branches in order to swing a vote.
So while the women in the ALP are claiming a victory for women, the left are claiming a victory for the right — and the right seem quite happy to live with the proposal. Sounds a lot like more factional rivalry than a real step forward for women.