A women’s factor appeared to be at work in yesterday’s election.
In the old Legislative Assembly there were only two women among 17 members.
In the new Assembly it appears that up to three Democrat women will be elected. In Brindabella, the woman Democrat, Jeanette Jolley was ahead of her more visible male Democrat counterpart Dominic Mico.
The new Labor member is bound to be a woman, either Christina Ryan or Katy Gallagher.
In Molonglo, if the Liberals lose a seat it will be the long-standing male, Greg Cornwell, rather than the newcomer woman who replace Kate Carnell – Jacqui Burke.
The only male newcomer will be Liberal Steve Pratt replacing Trevor Kaine who was elected as a Liberal in Brindabella in 1998.
Scrutineers said that they saw quite a number of ballot papers that preferenced women across party columns.
The upshot is that the two women in the old Legislative Assembly are likely to be re-elected (the Greens Kerrie Tucker certainly) and that up to four new women will enter the Assembly. If all the probable women candidates are elected it will result in six women MLAs in the Assembly – that is just over a third, the baseline of Labor’s policy. But Labor itself will have just one of seven MLAs a woman, though there is an outside chance that Labor might win an eighth seat and that would go to a woman.