Right-wing women
Gender equity and affirmative action have long been demands of the women's movement. At their best, they can be used to raise awareness about women's issues and educate people more broadly about the potential for a society free from sexism. Discussion of the ideas has led to a wider understanding of the problems of systematic, institutionalised discrimination against women.
Affirmative action campaigns that include quotas or other mechanisms to assist groups that have traditionally suffered discrimination have been used successfully in such areas as employment and education.
But quota systems do not guarantee that the needs of those they are meant to benefit will be met. This can happen only if quotas are introduced as part of a broader campaign that includes education, discussion and consciousness-raising about methods and forms of discrimination.
Used in the absence of such work, quotas or a call for gender balance can even be used by conservatives to entrench already existing powerful interests.
An example of this is the recent campaigning by some women in the ALP for preselection quotas for women. That is, a certain percentage of women would be guaranteed on preselection tickets in order to assist women in the ALP to win "safe" seats and therefore a safe career in the privileged parliamentary arena.
Although this is being carried out in the name of feminism, the primary objective is to win more safe seats for women, not necessarily for feminists.
Further, it has been admitted in the course of the campaign that this quota could be used to overturn a democratically selected ticket if that ticket included more men than women, and that ALP preselection procedures aren't democratic anyway.
Just a short while ago we saw Carmen Lawrence elevated to the ministry after the exodus of Ros Kelly with her tail between her legs after the sports rorts affair. Lawrence's record in WA as premier had been to slash women's services severely.
Gabrielle Harrison is the ALP candidate for the seat of Parramatta in a by-election for the NSW parliament. Is this a gain for women — or for the Labor right, which Harrison has been an active member of since her involvement in Young Labor at Macquarie University as a student nearly 10 years ago. Her "blood lines" are said to be impeccable. Her brother is Steve Harrison, joint national secretary of the giant amalgamated union, AWU-FIMEE, seen as a "rising power broker" of the NSW right.
Similarly, Pat Staunton has just been preselected for the NSW upper house by the ALP. She has learned, in the words of the Sydney Morning Herald, "how to organise the numbers ... and hold on to power" within the ALP framework. She converses with Graham Richardson, and counts among her friends former NSW Labor Council secretary Michael Easson.
These women's political histories do not include an emphasis on feminism. They are being promoted because they are women. The conclusion we, the general public, are meant to draw, is that this is a good thing. But it's not their gender that determines what they will achieve when they are in those safe seats.
By Kath Gelber