A call for diversity

For a representative government, there is a consistent theme of a white-male-wash occurring. I am a fan of the merit argument it makes perfect sense. The problem is that I can point to people who could be in political leadership, cabinet or otherwise, who are not white men. Even some of the most talented men in parliament have been overlooked: Josh Frydenberg, Alan Tudge, Michael Danby and Andrew Leigh.

It defies logic. There is a passing up of talent to support mates.

I can look past this, because it is not necessarily the duty of parliamentary party to achieve this. The party administrators have failed to create a pipeline of talent.

There are programs to foster cultural inclusivity in the party through programs like Liberal Women, Racial and Ethnic Equality Labor and a bevy of other subsets. These are not new, yet they are not attracting a membership reflective of broader society.

Women have been the majority of graduates from university since the 1980s and the White Australia Policy was abandoned fully in 1973. It should not come as a shock that diverse cultures are a bevy of political talent, or that women can equally compete with men in parliament.

A Liberal politician once said to me that the reason she decided to run for parliament is because that she believed that the Party lacked a voice for women. She wanted to connect the party with the women like her. They were, and still are, resistant to this idea and her being in parliament with this mandate.

Somehow parties are preselecting not on who could be a good politician or representative but who is ticking factional and organisational boxes.

In discussions about diversity there is always a question hanging above quotas. While the Labor Party has a quota for women, and it clearly is working on a representative level in parliament, there is little consensus on cultural diversity.

Parties lack change agents to encourage diversity and inclusion. Those who are considered "diverse" often hold their positions on a tight rope juggling factional support and towing a party line. It can seem as if they avoid questions on diversity like the plague.

To call political parties a merit-based system isn't foolish it is downright idiotic. Arguably, political parties are consolidating power at the detriment of the national interest.

Without embracing cultural and gender diversity, Australia will not reach its full potential. I think we deserve better.