Australia’s Government Has a Woman Problem, and It Just Got Worse
- Liberals select man to fight for crucial Sydney electorate
- Morrison wanted woman candidate amid bullying complaints
This article is for subscribers only.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s fractured Liberal Party has balked at turning to a woman to improve its fortunes, even as a lack of gender diversity and accusations that female lawmakers were bullied threatens to further undermine its standing with voters.
Aware of its growing image problem, Morrison wanted a female candidate to stand for parliament in the Sydney seat of Wentworth to replace Malcolm Turnbull, who quit politics after he was ousted as leader last month. But the party turned instead to Dave Sharma, Australia’s former ambassador to Israel, to fight the special election on Oct. 20.