NSW Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor has pushed back at comments that she was “playing the gender card” at a parliamentary inquiry, labelling Labor MP Greg Donnelly’s comments towards her as “appalling”.
At a NSW parliamentary inquiry last week, Donnelly accused Taylor of “playing the gender card”, and then failed to withdraw his comment immediately after she asked him to. The comment came after Donnelly asked Taylor about her responsibilities as the newly appointed Rural Health Minister.
Donnelly suggested it was unclear what her responsibilities as Rural Health Minister would be.
“You’ve had multiple questions directed to you to help us understand what that role is, and you’ve come up with diddly squat,” Donnelly said.
It prompted Taylor to push back against the questioning, which she described as patronising.
“I am the most senior woman in this government in NSW, and to try and patronise in that way is unacceptable,” Taylor said at the time.
“No minister don’t play the gender card with me, it has nothing to do with gender,” Donnelly said.
Taylor asked Donnelly to withdraw the comment in the moment, which he did not do at the time. Later in the meeting he withdrew the comment.
“I would ask you to withdraw that comment about me playing the gender card. I would ask you to withdraw that,” she said.
Speaking to Sky News about the incident later, Taylor said the behaviour was appalling, especially on the eve of International Women’s Day.
“Look, just watching it back then it just infuriates me, it was just appalling behavior,” she said.
“This from the ‘great Labor party, the great supporter of women’ who’ve got fantastic women in their party… to allow that sort of behaviour, that attitude to take place… They way that he did that is just so utterly disappointing. As a member of parliament in the government, you expect a little bit more respect, he wouldn’t do that to a bloke.
“It’s just disgraceful and it makes me even more determined and more resolute to make sure that I call out such shocking and appalling behaviour.”
Taylor said she was thankful to have been supported by Greens MP Cate Faehrmann at the time, who also asked Donnelly to withdraw the “gender card” comment.
“I’m really grateful to the Greens MP Cate Faehrmann; she came in and defended me,” she said.
“He wouldn’t withdraw it at the time and he actually came back at the end when he was counselled by another colleague and then withdrew it,” Taylor said.
“I hope he is taken to task but I haven’t heard anything, I haven’t had an apology, I haven’t heard from anyone else in the Labor party about it but I intend to keep calling this behaviour out because it’s wrong and people do not deserve it.
“To have to put up with that behaviour from a male colleague in parliament is a pretty low blow.”