The WA Liberal Party's candidate in the Rockingham by-election apologises for asking a constituent to question his opponent whether she would resign from parliament if she fell pregnant.
While this kid is a Liberal candidate, I honestly believe a similar exchange could have come from any inexperienced candidate from any party. I think it would be a mistake to dismiss this incident as merely something one particular party does. Even if all the evidence points that way.
Clearly, this was never intended to become public (side note: I’d love to hear how Kate Doust got hold of the texts) and was intended as a “gotcha” to a political opponent.
May this example serve as a lesson: This is not the 20th century. Misogyny is no longer a valid political debate tactic.
It’s silly, the dude is young enough to understand that “This question can’t come from me”, but dumb enough to think “it’s an important one to ask”.
Probably thinks misogyny is okay tbh
This is then opposition leader Tony Abbott when Julia Gillard was Prime Minister:
So yeah, misogyny is pretty much standard operating procedure for the Libs.
While this kid is a Liberal candidate, I honestly believe a similar exchange could have come from any inexperienced candidate from any party. I think it would be a mistake to dismiss this incident as merely something one particular party does. Even if all the evidence points that way.
Clearly, this was never intended to become public (side note: I’d love to hear how Kate Doust got hold of the texts) and was intended as a “gotcha” to a political opponent.