A Glass Ceiling For Single Ministers?
The Age
Tuesday August 7, 2007
POLITICIANS of the married-with-children kind habitually thank their families for their help along the way. Apparently, Victorian Treasurer John Lenders literally has them to thank for his job. He and Tim Holding were the two candidates publicly nominated, rather unusually, by new Premier John Brumby. Asked on ABC TV's Stateline why he chose one over the other, Mr Brumby said: "I chose John on balance. He's a bit older and has had a few more of life's experiences. He's a parent, father, husband - all of those things."
Mr Holding, 34, is none of those things. By implication, that counted against him. The Premier went on to outline the ministerial experience of Mr Lenders, 48, a spread of portfolios that, in The Age's view too, made him the better candidate. So it is unfortunate that Mr Brumby even implied that age and marital and parental status were reasonable grounds for discrimination in appointments. While not as crass as Bill Heffernan's description of federal ALP deputy leader Julia Gillard as being "deliberately barren" and having no idea what life was about, rendering her unfit to be deputy prime minister, Mr Brumby is also guilty of confusing personal circumstances with professional competency. As this newspaper said of Prime Minister John Howard when he turned 68 last month, age is not relevant to his fitness for office. And Mr Howard himself said in response to Senator Heffernan that whether people married and had children was entirely a matter for them.It is a fact of demography that the suggestion one must be married with children to be fit for high office is a slur on half the Australian population. According to the 2006 census, slightly less than half of adults are married and 37 per cent of couples are childless. Three out of four under 35 have never married. It is time political leaders abandoned outmoded discriminatory attitudes to just what kind of personal circumstances put a person in touch with the diverse Australian community and qualifies them for political and other appointments. Demonstrated competency and character are all that should count.
© 2007 The Age