Labor leader Peter Malinauskas has doubled down on a previous ‘sexist’ remark by telling a journalist who asked him about it: “I don’t think there’s any point getting your knickers in a knot about it, that’s for sure.”
The response came just hours after Mr Malinauskas had referred to a group of men who had joined him on a morning run as ‘girls’ in a disparaging way.
Treasurer Rob Lucas said Mr Malinauskas’ offensive remarks were from a bygone era and ‘totally unbecoming of a modern leader’.
“This kind of boorish boy’s club attitude may have been encouraged while he was the boss of a union, but is completely inappropriate and out-of-touch for a man who wants to be the leader of our state – more than half of whom are women,” Treasurer Rob Lucas said.
“We are not living in the 70s any more, and Mr Malinauskas should pause and reflect on his language and behaviour because this type of behaviour has a real impact on women, and attitudes towards women, in our society.
“We should be doing everything in our power as a society to encourage, support and instil confidence in young women and girls – not reference them as some kind of insult.”
The comments were made the day after International Women’s Day where the Marshall Liberal Government announced a doubling of the number of scholarships for young women and girls, Aboriginal students and students from low socio-economic areas to study STEM subjects.
A re-elected Marshall Liberal Government will also invest a further $4 million which will see crisis beds across the state soar – from 31 to 100 – and new resources to monitor more than 100 people who have either been charged with a domestic and family violence (DFV) offence and are on home detention bail, or who have breached DFV related intervention orders.
In 2014, the Always ‘Like a Girl’ ad campaign was widely celebrated for breaking stereotypes and empowering women, by tackling ‘the societal limitations that stand in their way’.
To watch the ad campaign clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs