Source: InDaily indaily@solsticemedia.com.au
Thursday, 10 February 2011
Disgrace: Where are the women?
Susan Mitchell
IT’S a disgrace. And all members of the SA Labor Party should hang their heads in shame.
How, in 2011, can Premier Mike Rann, have the gall to announce a so-called”renewal”, a “regeneration” even, in his Ministry and not promote any of the three women who currently hold Ministries?
Moreover, how can he have the hypocrisy not to promote any new women into the “new” lineup.
Rann is forever claiming former Premier Don Dunstan as his hero and mentor.
In 1976 Dunstan was the first Premier in the nation to appoint a Commissioner for Equal Opportunity whose role was to administer the first Sex Discrimination Act in the nation. We were the leaders in the fight for women to gain those positions of power which had been closed to them because of their gender.
In 1994 we had a huge state celebration. It was one hundred years since we had passed legislation allowing women to vote, another first in the nation. We had also passed legislation allowing women to stand for parliament. This was a first in the entire world. What a proud legacy.
And here we are in 2011, with a Premier who huffs and puffs, and still we only have three female ministers out of 15, and no new women elevated to the ministry. The newly elevated Deputy Premier, John Rau, also a newly elevated Attorney General, said that it was “unfortunate” that three women lost their seats in the state election.
Unfortunate? How pathetic. How lame an excuse for not elevating three new women into the ministry or at least promoting the ones they had.
Men also lost their seats but it didn’t stop the Premier from elevating two new men, Bernie Finnigan and Tom Kenyon into his ministry. Why not Chloe Fox? If she is good enough to be Deputy Speaker then why not make her a member of the ministry?
Is there perhaps another Don who is now the real mentor of Premier Rann? The so called “right “ faction of the state Labor Party has two arms, the Catholic, and the non-Catholic.
As Kevin Naughton outlined yesterday in Indaily, those Catholics who would normally have split off to join the DLP in the 1950s, stayed in the SA Labor Party and built their base. Their current leader Don Farrell is now calling the shots.
The euphemism for the policies that these powerful men support is that they are “socially conservative.” Just what does this mean? It is time to spell this out so that everyone who has been loyal to the ALP knows exactly who and what they are voting for.
The Catholic Church has not exactly been known for its equal treatment of women. It is controlled by a rigid hierarchy of men, all of whom have renounced intimacy with women.
From the highest position of Pope to the lowliest parish priest, women are banned from applying. These ordained men dictate all the rules regarding women. No sex before marriage, no oral contraception, no use of condoms, no right to legal abortion, no use of the “morning after” pill, no divorce, no same- sex relationships.
Is it any wonder then that the powerful Catholic Right faction of the ALP has not promoted any of its women members to positions in the ministry? All three of the only female members of the current Ministry are from the Left faction. The Catholic right have promoted two of their young men. Surprise, surprise.
Is it any wonder that we are the only State or territory in Australia not to have had a female Premier? We have never even had a female leader representing the ALP.
There is no place for women to hold positions of power in the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, nor any chance that this will change in our life time. Is the same to be true for our State ALP government, dominated as it currently is by a faction of powerful Catholic conservatives? Which Don should the Premier be following?
Why should a woman give them her vote?
Why should a man who believes in equality give them his vote?
These are the real questions we should all be asking ourselves.
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