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Women still outnumbered where it counts, Australia

Submitted by iKNOW Politics on
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Women still outnumbered where it counts, Australia

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That much-publicised milestone of political gender equality in the US? 20 per cent. Yes. Being outnumbered four to one is a milestone for women in the US Senate. Closer to home, Australia granted women the right to vote and to seek election in 1902, but it took nearly 22 years for a woman to enter federal Parliament, and more than a century to have any woman as prime minister.

Today, less than one-third of our MPs are women and women make up less than a quarter of the cabinet. In the ''year of the woman'', men continue to dominate the policy decisions that affect us all.

That much-publicised milestone of political gender equality in the US? 20 per cent. Yes. Being outnumbered four to one is a milestone for women in the US Senate. Closer to home, Australia granted women the right to vote and to seek election in 1902, but it took nearly 22 years for a woman to enter federal Parliament, and more than a century to have any woman as prime minister.

Today, less than one-third of our MPs are women and women make up less than a quarter of the cabinet. In the ''year of the woman'', men continue to dominate the policy decisions that affect us all.