Liberals say ‘all options’ should be considered despite Angus Taylor hosing down gender quota proposal

The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, said he has never supported gender quotas after a discussion paper raised it among a slew of ideas to help the party refresh its base and improve structures. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP View image in fullscreen The Liberal leader, Angus Taylor, said he has never supported gender quotas after a discussion paper raised it among a slew of ideas to help the party refresh its base and improve structures. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Liberals say ‘all options’ should be considered despite Angus Taylor hosing down gender quota proposal Anne Ruston called for the party to act with ‘urgency’ after discussion paper suggested ways to improve engagement with women, multicultural communities and young people Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Angus Taylor has hosed down a proposal for the Liberal party to consider introducing gender quotas, while one of his senior shadow cabinet ministers has implored the party to act on such ideas with “urgency”. After a discussion paper that canvassed the idea was circulated to supporters on Wednesday, the party’s leader said he has never been supportive of quotas – shortly before his deputy, Jane Hume, intervened to say all options would be considered. Jacinta Nampijinpa Price rebuked for sharing false claim Labor ‘importing’ Indian migrants Read more The paper , from the internal Liberal Party Commission group that’s led by the Queensland senator James McGrath, put forward options to refresh the ageing membership base, engage with women, multicultural communities and young people, and improve internal structures and campaigning. “I’ve never supported any quotas at all, but what I do support, what I do support is more great people joining the Liberal party and more great people, women and from all sorts of backgrounds,” Taylor said on Thursday. But Hume quickly intervened, leaving the door ajar. “This is a draft report. It’s up for discussion right now, and we’ll consider all of the options that are put out there,” Hume said. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email Shadow cabinet minister Anne Ruston went further on Thursday, calling for the party to act with “urgency”. “Every review is only as good as what gets implemented afterwards … we’re at a critical juncture so listening isn’t enough,” Ruston told Guardian Australia. “We need to act on what we’re hearing, with urgency.” She had told Sky News on Wednesday the status quo for the party was not working. “All the things that have been proposed, with the exception of quotas, have not worked, because you’ve only got to look at the number of females … we have in the House of Representatives,” she said. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion “If you’re going to have a discussion paper like this being put out, you can’t start off on day one ruling things in and ruling things out, everything should be on the table.” Others in the party have downplayed the significance of McGrath’s review, which h