2016-06-10
Greens proud to have more women as candidates than men
The Australian Greens are proud to have a majority of women as candidates in this year’s federal election.
Qld Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens Deputy Leader and spokesperson for women, said:
“We Greens actively promote and support women to run as candidates and we couldn’t be prouder to have achieved gender equality across our exceptional team of candidates.
“We urgently need more women in Parliament, where currently only 30 per cent of members are women, to stand up against sexist policy and to make our Parliament more representative of women.
“Just yesterday we saw Bill Shorten join Malcolm Turnbull in giving up on ending the tampon tax – a sexist tax on women’s bodies that costs Australian women $50 million a year.
“More women in Parliament means more representatives to genuinely consider how policies impact on women in the community and to stop discriminatory laws in its tracks.
“While Mr Turnbull may call himself a feminist, the Coalition government has cut domestic violence services and attacked working mums for “double dipping” on paid parental leave.
“Both old parties’ refugee policies lock up innocent women and their children in hell holes offshore where they are exposed to unacceptable violence, sexual assault and inadequate healthcare.
“We Greens will always stand up for gender equality both in our party and in our policies,” Senator Waters said.
The Greens have 107 women 94 men as candidates nationally.