The current PM Scott Morrison has a lot about which to be happy. Today’s polls show a small bump in his electability – it’s still heading for a Labor landslide, but less so than it seemed a fortnight ago – and the strawberry crisis nightmare disaster has done him wonders in PR terms, giving him a wonderful opportunity to be bravely pro-berry in the public eye.
So it’s weird that he’s apparently determined to promote and pursue his weird blind spot about not-men – or, as the rest of the world calls them, women.
The Liberals have struggled with reports o bullying and intimidation in the party from multiple MPs and senators. Two MP – Anne Sudmalis and Julia Banks – announced they wouldn’t stand at the next election as a result of the culture of bullying, and which Morrison insists doesn’t happen and isn’t a thing.
Labor, entirely aware that this is a weakness in the Morrison government, made the announcement that they would force all companies of 1000+ employees to reveal pay gaps between make and female employees at the same level.
And Morrison predictably lunged for the bait by suggesting that women might just be happier not knowing that they’re being exploited because that would make things awkward.
“You’d want to be confident you’re not setting up conflict in the workplace,” he told reporters. “I don’t want to set one set of employees against another set of employees.”
Surely the more accurate assessment would be to set employees against bosses who exploit institutional sexism to underpay female workers, but y’know. Whatevs.
This weird lady-blindness means he presumably didn’t notice that ex-deputy leader Julie Bishop was on 60 Minutes just having a nice chat about how a lot of the world thinks it’s weird that she’s not the Foreign Minister any more.
And Morrison might want to give it a watch since it seemed almost like she’s engaged in making herself look reasonable and electable just in case a position as opposition leader should open up after the federal election.
And just in case anyone thought this problem started with Scoz, ex-PM John Howard decided to speak about the “insulting” nonsense of gender quotas while also calling for more women to join the Liberals… in his book launch at the men-only Tattersalls Club in Brisbane.
So… perhaps something of a mixed message?