The ousting of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has exposed simmering discontent within the Liberal Party over its attitude towards women, amid claims female MPs were bullied during the August leadership spill and suggestions from outside the party that Julie Bishop, then deputy leader, was overlooked for the top job due to her gender.
Ms McGowan is jumping the gun. The Coalition has not yet achieved 50 per cent female membership of government boards, but this target was only set in March 2016. In the two years since, the Government has boosted female representation on boards. Data available at the time of Ms McGowan's claim, for December 2017, shows women had achieved a record 44.5 per cent board membership. This is up from 40.5 per cent recorded in June 2016, three months after the Government set the target, and from 42.7 per cent in June 2017. In total, this amounts to an increase of 4 percentage points in 18 months. Under the Coalition, between June 2016 and December 2017, female representation increased by an average of 0.22 percentage points per month. Under Labor, between June 2010 and June 2013, the average monthly increase was 0.2 percentage points. The proportion of women on boards fell back under former Coalition prime minister Tony Abbott. However, Ms McGowan's claim relates to the period since March 2016 when the Turnbull government set the 50 per cent target. On current trends, that target would be met by January 2020. Experts consulted by Fact Check said that while governments effectively control the selection of board appointees, there are constraints on how quickly they can change the composition of government boards. These include, for example, fixed terms for current board members, which typically last three to five years. Professor Meredith Edwards said that given these constraints, the rate achieved since introducing Mr Turnbull's 50 per cent target was quite good. During 2016-17, the proportion of new board appointments that went to women was 46.2 per cent, down slightly from 46.5 per cent in 2015-16, and lower than the record 47.6 per cent achieved in 2012-13, Labor's last year of government.
Fact check: Has the Coalition been unable to reach its target of 50 per cent women on government boards?
['Malcolm_Turnbull', 'Liberal_Party_of_Australia']