That’s according to new analysis by corporate adviser Conrad Liveris (who first established the Andrew, John and Peter name dominating phenomenon across CEO positions), which shows the Coalition could end up with as many MPs called Andrew in the House of Representatives as it has women following the next election.
Liveris’ analysis is based on a 3 per cent swing against the Coalition (including Liberal and National seats), which could see them left with just five or six women. Liveris predicts this would see Karen Andrews, Julie Bishop, Sussan Ley, Nola Marino, Kelly O’Dwyer and Melissa Price as the most likely to be safe.
If the Coalition’s female representatives in the House of Reps does dip as low as five, then it would have an equal number of men called Andrew as it does women.
And if it does hit the six mark for women, these Andrews, Michaels, Tonys, Davids and Johns will still be 2.5 times the number of women.
Liveris says on his analysis that it shows a a lack of consideration and planning on how to be representative, and the results could weaken policy development. “Without adequate diversity in the key policy decision making roles, the party rooms, the parties may struggle to create policy that best serves their constituents,” he says.
“This is the House of Representatives, and men named Andrew are likely to be as well represented as women by the Coalition.”
A number of Liberal MPs have recently called for the Liberal Party to consider introducing quotas for women, including Julia Banks, who announced last month that she would be quitting Parliament at the next election due to bullying and intimidation. Both Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his deputy Josh Frydenberg have said the focus should instead be on “practical measures” like recruitment, mentoring and support for women.
Liveris says he would raise serious questions about the management of any organisation that finds itself in the position of having such a low numbers of women in leadership, especially around how it’s recruiting and retaining staff, and meeting its duties and objectives.
Earlier this year Liveris found there were more men named Andrew running ASX 200 organisations than there were women. That actually represented a slight shift in the first names of ASX CEOs, following a period of leadership renewal across the ASX 200 top positions. Previously it was ‘Peters’, ‘Johns’ and ‘Davids’ that tended to dominate the CEO and chair positions.