Women in Leadership forum sparks debate

Posted : Tuesday, May 29, 2012

SA Opposition Leader, Isobel Redmond's comments on discrimination at the recent Women in Leadership event in South Australia have sparked debate.

Asked by a young female local government councillor how she could deal with discrimination in her new role Ms Redmond said: "In any new role... listen a lot and rather than making statements, ask lots of questions, preferably intelligent questions, to try to get the discussion to go the way you want it to. I don't think there's much point in confrontation."

Speaking of her own experience early in her career as a junior clerk working in the Crown Solicitor's Office, Ms Redmond said: "I think it is easier a lot of the time to just try to ignore the discrimination and get on with being the best councillor you can be, or the best whatever it is, and ask intelligent questions and make gentle suggestions and I think you'll find that gradually the discrimination will disappear."

On gender targets, Ms Redmond said: "We need to think very carefully about this idea that gender targets give women a boost up the corporate ladder.

"When I read that companies with women on boards perform better, then I think the evidence speaks for itself that it shouldn't be necessary to have gender targets.

"In modern day Australia when we have a female Prime Minister, a female Governor General, a female leader of the Opposition in this state who wants to be Premier... there shouldn't be any longer that dinosaur generation inhibiting the appointment of females.

"I think we're on a good trajectory it just seems like a long time...(and) I think the glass ceiling will be shattered."

While Ms Redmond said she does want to become Premier in SA, it's not for the crown of South Australia's first female Premier.

"I want the job because I think we need a better government...and the fact that I happen to be a female leader is merely coincidental," she said

Return to the news