Women of Vaucluse

While many believe blue ribbon seat Vaucluse will go to the Liberals at this month’s state election, nobody is ready to take it for granted. The one sure thing is that Vaucluse will see its first female MP since 1986.

Liberal candidate, and hot favourite, Gabrielle Upton is facing off against the Greens’ Susan Jarnason and Labor’s Pauline Neill. All three hope to break the 15-year drought since Liberal MP and deputy opposition leader Rosemary Foot left office.

With International Women’s Day on Tuesday March 8, The Bondi View asked the candidates what the big issues were for women in their electorate.

“One of the major issues facing women, both young and old, in our electorate is the need for more early intervention and mental health support services,” Ms Neill said. “This would particularly include post natal depression services for women with young children.

“I know firsthand how debilitating post natal depression can be and I hear from lots of new mums that there just aren’t enough services locally to help when it is really needed.”

Ms Jarnason echoed this view, saying that the “scourge of mental illness and the chronic lack of resourcing for treatment, care and respite are national tragedies that are as important in Vaucluse as anywhere else”.

“Recognising that while the Vaucluse electorate enjoys many privileges not generally enjoyed in NSW or more broadly, women still face many challenges,” Ms Jarnason said. “Privilege is no obstacle to domestic violence or protection against sexual harassment and assault.

“Women still mostly come off the worse when relationships break down and find housing affordability an issue as do those on modest incomes or older women who may also be living alone.”

For Ms Upton safety was a concern.

“One issue that does arise in the electorate, particularly for women, is their personal safety when socialising in and around the electorate,” she said. ” A Liberal government, if elected, will give police new powers to ensure they can adequately deal with antisocial behaviour and establish facilities to help people sober up when necessary.”

Ms Neill also identified care for the elderly as an area she sought to strengthen.

“I think it safe to say that women are the ‘owners’ of most family responsibilities,” she said. “You see mothers, sisters and daughters everywhere taking responsibility for the care of elderly relatives.”

The candidates all agreed that being a woman was no obstacle to getting the job done. Ms Neill even quoted statistics that female politicians deliver, on average, 10 per cent more federal funding, sponsor more bills, and achieve more co-sponsorship for their legislation than their male colleagues.

All three candidates spruiked their parties’ commitment to the advancement of women within the party ranks. Most striking is the Greens policy of having constitutional rules to ensure at least 50 per cent of their upper house candidates are women.

All three candidates also acknowledged the importance of International Women’s Day and came together in the spirit of the event for a photo shoot with The Bondi View on Sunday at Bondi Beach.

“International Women’s Day is an important day to reflect on the success of women across the globe and the pathway that many women have had to navigate to gain greater freedom, access to education and to some of the rights men took for granted,” Ms Upton said.

The Liberal party holds Vaucluse with a comfortable 16.1 per cent margin against the Greens.