The Liberals’ rejection of quotas is self-sabotage on an epic scale

They are so frightened of the Q word that they would prefer to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over.

They will use the same toothless buzzwords to distract themselves from the ever-widening divide between the party and the values of modern Australia.

The teal independents who knocked off so many male MPs in hitherto-safe Liberal seats were what Tony Abbott would have called “women of calibre”: highly educated, professional women with families, careers, and large doses of social and financial capital.

The teal candidates, of course, were exactly the kinds of women the Liberal Party should have been recruiting years ago.

But as it is, these women wouldn’t go near the Liberals – in fact, many of them were inspired to run as independents by the outrages of a Liberal Party they thought no longer represented liberal values – particularly when it came to respect for women and gender equality.

The inconvenient truth about quotas is simple: they work.

What’s more, they work quickly.

It has been nearly 30 years since Labor first introduced “quotas with consequences” (ie penalties were imposed if they weren’t achieved).

Back then – in 1994 – women represented 14 per cent of the federal Labor caucus.

The first target set was for 35 per cent representation.

The quota was ratcheted up over the years, and in 2015, it was finally lifted to 50 per cent female representation by 2025.

Labor beat that deadline. The Albanese government ministry is just shy of 50 per cent female representation.

Another inconvenient truth: fewer women are voting conservative than ever before.

This is a trend observable in most major democracies, which many analysts attribute to more women becoming educated, and entering the workforce.

In Australia, the female vote for the Liberal Party has been falling for decades. The Liberals have no credible plan to win it back.

As much as the Liberals liked to paint them as rich and out-of-touch, the teals were highly relatable, and even admirable, to the women in their electorates. For the first time, those women were able to vote for people who were like themselves.

It was a novelty most male voters (and politicians) may not have grasped because they have always been able to take that for granted.

The teals exuded female competence – they seemed like they could manage a company/hospital ward/legal practice while dealing with a nits outbreak at home.

Half the men in parliament, particularly some of the unexceptional talents on the former Morrison government front bench, you would barely trust to run a chook raffle.

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And yet we were supposed to trust they were beamed into cabinet on the strength of their unstoppable talent, in no way aided by the systems of patronage or patriarchy that have underpinned politics for centuries.

The truth is, these male MPs know they have benefited from unearned privilege, but are too afraid to acknowledge it.

The Liberal Party administration has no such excuse – it should be focused on efficacy and electability, for the sake of the people it seeks to represent, if not for its own survival.

Instead, they fall back on “the Liberal way”, which is another way of saying that their opposition to quotas is ideological, and therefore irrational.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.