Angus Taylor says he opposes gender quotas as ‘I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes’
Taylor says he does not support quotas to bring women into the Liberal party because “I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes”.
The shadow defence minister tells ABC TV:
We absolutely need more women in the party at every level, whether it’s members of our branches, whether it’s on our executives, whether, indeed, it is as members of parliament. And I think there’s a huge job for us to make sure we are representative of our communities in every way possible, and that means attracting the most talented people from across our communities as we can, including women …
I have never been a supporter of quotas, because I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes. The Labor party does. We traditionally haven’t in the Liberal party. I think there’s better ways of achieving this.
Taylor lists mentoring, recruitment and retention processes as alternate options.
Key events
Taylor repeats claim gender quotas ‘subvert democracy’
Angus Taylor says the Labor party “subvert democracy”, when asked again about gender quotas.
The shadow defence minister was pushed on ABC RN this morning on his stance against introducing quotas to the Liberal party.
“We’re in a democratic country, and I want to see a democratic organisation in the Liberal party,” she shadow minister said.
Host Sally Sara cut in: “the Labor party can be democratic and have women come in.”
Taylor responded:
You know what, the Labor party will do things their own way, and they do subvert democracy, and that’s a matter for them.
At the end of the day, if you’re going to have quotas, it means you are going to subvert democratic processes.
Sara cuts in again to say, “those women are elected”. Taylor continues:
Well, you know, within the Labor Party or the Liberal Party, we have pre-selection processes, and I want those to be democratic processes.
I’ve long been a crusader on this, as I have long been a crusader on attracting and retaining and mentoring talented people, including, of course, women in our party.
Terrorgram listed as terrorist organisation
Tony Burke says the listing of Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation “won’t be the last thing we have to do against far-right white supremacist groups”.
The home affairs minister is speaking on ABC RN:
This is very different to a lot of the other listings that we’ve done. When people normally think about a terrorist organisation, you think small groups of people, meeting in private rooms, finding people to recruit and working as a cell.
Describing Terrogram, Burke continues:
If people imagine a big chat group dedicated to hatred and violence, it’s a situation where the members won’t necessarily know each other. They won’t necessarily know the people who they’re recruiting, but the concept of what they are trying to do is a direct threat to the safety of Australians, and there have been specific instances where this is being used in order to threaten Australians.
The sort of hatred we’re talking about here, it’s sometimes loosely referred to as extreme rightwing terrorism. You’re talking about things like white supremacism. Those sorts of views. And they encourage not just the sharing of the hatred, but the sharing of acts of violence, and how to guides for people to be able to commit these sorts of acts of violence.
Asked how to government can stop members from regrouping elsewhere, Burke says “you never stop chasing these characters down”:
You never stop this listing won’t be the last thing we have to do against far-right white supremacist groups. There’ll be more. And you know, there were some groups that were that have previously been listed. Terragram is the first one of this particular form.
Angus Taylor says he opposes gender quotas as ‘I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes’
Taylor says he does not support quotas to bring women into the Liberal party because “I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes”.
The shadow defence minister tells ABC TV:
We absolutely need more women in the party at every level, whether it’s members of our branches, whether it’s on our executives, whether, indeed, it is as members of parliament. And I think there’s a huge job for us to make sure we are representative of our communities in every way possible, and that means attracting the most talented people from across our communities as we can, including women …
I have never been a supporter of quotas, because I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes. The Labor party does. We traditionally haven’t in the Liberal party. I think there’s better ways of achieving this.
Taylor lists mentoring, recruitment and retention processes as alternate options.
Taylor says defence spending needed to guard against authoritarian regimes
Angus Taylor says Australia needs to increase spending on defence as “we’re seeing authoritarian regimes around the world flexing their muscles”.
The shadow defence minister said on ABC TV:
It’s absolutely appropriate that we increase defence expenditure up to at least 3% of GDP …
Ultimately, if you step back from this, we’re seeing authoritarian regimes around the world flexing their muscles. We’re seeing it, of course, with Russia, we have seen it with Iran and their proxies. We’re seeing it with the military buildup of the Chinese Communist Party. And all of this means we are in a more uncertain world than at any time since the second world war. So it’s essential Australia be in a position to stand on its own two feet alongside our allies like the United States and the UK, and that does mean we have to spend more on defence.
Nato states pledged to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP by 2035 – including 3.5% in core military spending and the rest in infrastructure, intelligence, cybersecurity and other spending – earlier this month. You can read more about that here:
Tony Burke is due to speak shortly on the ABC about Terrorgram’s listing as a terrorist organisation.
The online network for neo-Nazis promotes militant accelerationism, which calls for violent acts to destabilise society.
As Dan Jervis-Bardy reported earlier in the year, the group was hit with counter-terrorism sanctions in February, making it a criminal offence to use or deal with the online entity.
Read more here:
Rafqa Touma
Thank you Martin Farrer for getting the blog rolling this morning. I’ll be updating you from here – let’s go.
Sydney man dies from stab wounds in driveway
NSW police are investigating after a man died from stabbing wounds in Sydney overnight.
Police were called to Pemulwuy in Sydney’s west at around 10.45pm on Thursday, they said in a statement, after reports a man “believed to be aged in his 20s” was found wounded in a house driveway.
He was treated by paramedics but was unable to be revived and died at the scene, police said.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best of the overnight stories before Rafqa Touma takes you through the day.
The Albanese government has reportedly listed white supremacist network Terrorgram as a terrorist organisation. Penny Wong announced sanctions on the group earlier this year. The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, will have more to say on that soon.
The big domestic political event of the day comes in Canberra with a joint Coalition party room meeting to discuss reforms and the federal election review. Our report this morning tells us that Sussan Ley will be seeking a more inclusive policymaking process in order to avoid the mistakes of the Dutton era. We’ll have more coming up.
And as we reported earlier in the week, staffers from the offices of the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, and the police minister, Yasmin Catley, have agreed to appear before a parliamentary inquiry into the Dural caravan “fake terrorism plot” today – we’ll have more on that.
