A QUESTION in State Parliament about the pre-selection of Eleni Petinos for the seat of Miranda exposed the deep factional divisions in the Liberal Party that are often hidden beneath smiles in public.
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The question followed Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian's proposal, which was controversial in Liberal ranks, for targets to be set to boost the number of women in Parliament.
Yasmin Catley, the Labor MP for Swansea, asked Ms Berejiklian why, in view of this stance, she had opposed Ms Petinos's preselection and that of businesswoman Dai Le for the upper house.
Speaker Shelley Hancock ruled the question out of order.
When Ms Berejiklian indicated she was happy to answer, the Speaker said she would allow the question if it was re-phrased.
However, it was not asked again.
Ms Berejiklian declined to comment when approached by the Leader, while Ms Petinos said, "I have no comment on this issue at the present time."
It is understood Ms Berejiklian did, in fact, support a woman for the Miranda preselection, but it was Sutherland Shire councillor Carol Provan.
Ms Berejiklian and Ms Petinos are at opposite ends, philosophically, of the Liberal Party.
The state's first female Treasurer belongs to the left wing faction, known as the moderates, while Ms Petinos is a member of the hard right.
Councillor Provan was supported by the moderates, led by Cronulla MP Mark Speakman.
Another councillor, Steve Simpson, who is not aligned to a faction but is in the centre of the party, was the third contender.
The hard right, which has a strong base in the shire, flexed its muscle to give victory to Ms Petinos, a solicitor, previously unknown in shire politics.
It is understood, in the final days of the preselection campaign, the then Liberal Party president Chris Downy directed right wing preselectors to support Cr Simpson, believing this to be the best chance of defeating the hard right.
Ms Petinos gained 45 votes, Cr Simpson, 38 and Cr Provan, six.
Odds ‘stacked against women’
GLADYS Berejiklian and Eleni Petinos have vastly different views on how women should be chosen for Parliament.
Speaking at a business event, Ms Berejiklian said the argument that women should be chosen on ‘‘merit’’ alone needed to be dismantled and all political parties should set targets for the number of women to be preselected in winnable seats.
Ms Berejiklian said ‘‘the odds of getting preselected are well and truly stacked against women’’ and the idea of pre-selections solely based on merit was ‘‘well past its use-by date’’.
Ms Petinos, in her inaugural speech, said she believed in a merit system.
She said she had ‘‘always objected violently to the proposition that I need to be propped up and that I am capable of attaining only a tokenistic position’’.
‘‘My gender is very unremarkable,’’ she said. ‘‘It is the same as 50 per cent of the population and yet all too often it seems to be the quality used to define or characterise me.’’
Do you think targets should be set to get more women into parliament?