Sex, Lies and Question Time: Why the successes and struggles of women in Australia's parliament matter to us all

by Kate Eliis

In Sex, Lies and Question Time, former MP Kate Ellis explores the good, the bad and the ugly of life as a woman in Australian politics. Seventy-seven years after the first woman entered Australian parliament, female politicians are still the minority. They cop scrutiny over their appearance, their sex lives, their parenting and their portfolios in a way few of their male colleagues do. It’s time to call bullshit on the toxic Canberra culture. Alongside her own experiences from fifteen years in parliament, Kate Ellis reveals a frank and fascinating picture of women across Australian politics, including Julia Gillard, Julie Bishop, Linda Burney, Sussan Ley, Penny Wong, Sarah Hanson-Young and Pauline Hanson. Kate explores issues like sexism, motherhood, appearances, social media, the sisterhood and, of course, sex. But she also celebrates everything Australian female politicians have achieved. Wry, candid and provocative, Sex, Lies and Question Time is a powerful call to demand more of our leaders and our institutions. It reminds us we need greater diversity to shape a fairer Australia, where ‘women’s issues’ are everyone’s issues. A better parliament means a better Australia. The stakes are high, and the standards should be too. 

Genres: Nonfiction

261 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 29, 2021

Reviews

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellis has a strong voice, and much of this book is compelling and needs to be told. The voices of some of her interviewees - especially close friend Tanya Plibersek, Julie Bishop and Julia Gillard also ring strong. Like many women, they reflect on behaviour that at the time felt endurable and inexorable, but with a shift in mood, now is stripped bare as, well, pretty bloody awful.
The book is not, as many commentators had led me to expect, an ode to the sisterhood. Ellis is clear that most women feel more strongly about the importance of party policy and ideals over common sexist quibbles, making cross-party alliances unlikely. The honesty of this was refreshing.
But in many ways, it is what Ellis doesn't question that has stayed most uneasily with me. Not only the normalisation of intimidation and humiliation in the party rooms and cabinets, which detracts from real problem solving and creative thinking - but her repeated passionate declarations that politics enables women to make things better - and her own pride in the childcare policy reform - without ever discussing the equally important possibility that well-meaning politicians can - and often do - make things much worse.
There is not a whisper of a mention of Gillard's cuts to the single parent pension, for example, some of which were passed on the same day as the misogyny speech. Harder for me to read, however, was Ellis' discussion of the sixteen families whose NDIS woes she had intervened to solve, citing this as the reason she did politics. The thing is, see, there are many thousands more people with NDIS woes, in essence, identical to those 16 cases. I am in a few disability and carer support groups, and the numbers of people better off under NDIS are dwarfed by those who are worse. The screw-ups bugger the mind: equipment only half-funded and useless, inability to get staff, the sheer ridiculous success rate of appeals - clearly resulting from lower-level staff under pressure to refuse legitimate claims. Saving a few constituents doesn't make a significant difference in the face of terrible implementation. All of this might seem off-topic, but I think it goes to much of the heart of the book - we can't critique the cultures in parliament without an honest assessment of the real significance of the place - not just as a force of improvement, but one which can make things worse. Cultures of sexist bullying, aggrandisement and ego inflation serve to obscure and trivialise the work, creating an artificial reality that makes large-scale suffering easier to live with. We don't just need the women to have more free rein to act like the men: we need a different kind of politics.

[Hannah Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

LIKE
I picked this book up following its coverage on the Australian Story and on the back of all the abhorrent news coming out of the Australian parliament at the moment about sexual assaults, harassment and all round shitty male behaviour.

I used to be a staffer in parliament and either experienced or witnessed what this book discusses first hand. Kate Ellis does a great job of being bi-partisan and presenting the blatant sexist treatment of female MPs in an interesting and engagement way. I especially found her coverage of Julia Gillard's time as our first female PM (I was working in parliament during this period) extremely upsetting.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a passionate member of parliament for many years Kate brings real insight into the life of women in Australia’s parliament. She interviews women from different parties who tell many similar stories. She is hopeful that change is possible and that much has been accomplished particularly in the Labor Party where quotas have changed the numbers dramatically and changed the way things are done and many attitudes. Know what you believe in, how you wish to act and stay true to yourself.

[Chris Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic reading. Insightful and draws immense respect for the work and achievements made by our female parliamentary representatives. It is a huge shame and honestly, s great deal of disgust that the males treat others the way they do. Hard to understand why they feel they can behave differently to the rest of the nation.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

really brilliant but at times disheartening look into women’s lives in parliament. while at times difficult to read, and emotional (also made me angry often) the book is super informative, and kate ellis is a valuable source in understanding mothrerhood, politics, womanhood, sexism, and how all of those cross as a female australian mp

[Erin Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really solid exposition of what it is like to be female and a parliamentarian, good mix of named interviewees across the political spectrum. However the second half of the book was entirely focused on motherhood, which while a huge part of the author's experience, brought no new insights to that particular challenge.

[Emma Stodart · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED! Kate Ellis really tells the tale of what its like to be a woman/mother in a place like Australian Parliament. More of these revealing stories please.