Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to speak on the contemptible behaviour of the Labor Party in relation to the demotion of Senator Penny Wong to the No. 2 position on the South Australian Senate ticket behind one of the faceless men, widely known in Labor circles as 'the Godfather', Senator Don Farrell. Of course, in making my comments I note the curious twist in the saga today following the summonsing of the Prime Minister by Senator Farrell to a meeting last night, at which he told her that he would relinquish the No. 1 spot on the South Australian Senate ticket, swapping places with his more senior colleague.

To understand the extent of the hypocrisy of Ms Gillard when it comes to her confected and politically opportunistic comments on sexism levelled against the opposition and the extent to which she is beholden to the faceless men of the Labor Party, you need to look at the history of the Senator Penny Wong affair. Senior Labor colleagues identified Senator Wong as a key cabinet minister. In fact the Prime Minister herself declared proudly yesterday:

I deliberately promoted Penny Wong into the pivotal position of Finance Minister, putting her at the centre of government decision-making and our economic team because I'm so admiring of her capabilities.

And yet this same Prime Minister was rendered paralysed and appeared to be left stranded between Labor's right and left factions when one of the senior faceless men of the Labor Party decided that he was to be promoted ahead of Senator Wong, a senior cabinet minister, on the South Australian Senate ticket.

Given that Senator Wong is a key cabinet minister, and given the Labor Party's history when it comes to extolling what can now only be seen as deliberate and malicious false accusations of sexism against the opposition leader, the Labor Senate leadership should have been ashamed of the demotion of Cabinet Minister Wong. But they were silent. By their inaction, the Labor Senate leadership team made it clear for all to see that some people in the Labor Party clearly do have a problem with capable women and, further, that sexism is well and truly alive in the Labor Party. The Prime Minister's failure to stand up for Senator Wong also demonstrated that she was prepared to bow to the faceless men who got her the numbers to execute former Prime Minister Rudd and that she was determined to protect her prime ministerial job regardless of any harm or injury being inflicted on Senator Wong by her numbers men.

The members of EMILY's List, the Labor Party sisterhood, including Senator Wong herself, should have felt betrayed by Ms Gillard's inaction in the Senator Wong affair. After all, Ms Gillard has form when it comes to interfering in preselections. She intervened in a New South Wales preselection battle to protect one of her backbenchers, Laurie Ferguson. However, the Prime Minister's political reality, which she lives each and every day, is that because she was given the prime ministership by the faceless men of the Labor Party she blatantly refused to defend the demotion of Senator Wong or to stand up for one of her Labor left sisters. What does Ms Gillard's inaction say about Prime Minister Gillard? It says a lot, and none of it is good. Ms Gillard understands that her political reality is this: in Labor politics, the faceless men can give but they can also take back the spoils of political office whenever they feel like it.

Senator Wong's demotion to the second spot on the South Australian Senate ticket and the Prime Minister's failure to act proves that Ms Gillard does not really care about sexism and misogyny, despite attacking opposition leader Tony Abbott over the issue. All Prime Minister Gillard cares about is her own political future. The opposition has sustained a deliberate and malicious smear campaign in relation to Mr Abbott's supposed views on women by the Labor Party. However, the Labor Party's hypocrisy has now been exposed to the Australian community.

The Prime Minister's inaction at Senator Wong's demotion confirms the fact that the Prime Minister's indignation about so-called sexism was simply an artificially constructed political campaign designed to distract the Australian public from Labor's failed policies. This incident has highlighted for women and men across Australia the double standards and sheer hypocrisy within the Australian Labor Party. If there was any truth at all in the confected idea that the government thought misogyny or sexism was an important issue in Australia, Senator Wong would not have been placed down the ticket behind one of Labor's faceless men and Gillard's numbers man, Senator Don Farrell.

The media might like to ask the question: where were the women of the Labor Party, members of EMILY's List, on Senator Wong's demotion? Where was Minister Tanya Plibersek? Ms Plibersek is usually the first to give her opinion when sexism is conveniently alleged against the opposition, regardless of the truth of the allegations. Ms Plibersek was silent, without voice, because claims of sexism were overridden by base political convenience. The same can be said for Attorney-General Nicola Roxon and for Minister Jenny Macklin. Where is the Minister for the Status of Women, Julie Collins, and what about leading Left Senator Kate Lundy? The list goes on—