Liberal senator Maria Kovacic has expressed outrage over a sexist online news article that was published with the headline ‘Why I wouldn’t marry Sussan Ley’.
The article, written by journalist Aaron Patrick and published by The Nightly, imagines a hypothetical scenario where Sussan Ley was a wife who got into a car crash and badly damaged the family car.
“Imagine you live with Sussan Ley and she arrives home from work after badly damaging the family car, a government-financed white BMW,’’ the article reads.
“The circumstances are murky. Another vehicle was involved: a Toyota LandCruiser with a full-size bull bar driven by a short, prideful man.
“Naturally, you have questions: what happened, is the car a write off and, if so, what will it be replaced with?
“She doesn’t want to talk about the car crash.”
The article seems to suggest that the car crash analogy provides an explanation for how Ley has approached her role as leader of the Liberal Party, amid the recent split of the Coalition. However the framing of the article, focused on Ley as someone’s wife, is incredibly gendered in its criticism.
The article was published as speculation continues to swirl this week that Ley’s leadership will be challenged by either Andrew Hastie or Angus Taylor.
“You’re confused. After eight months with Sussan, you still don’t know her well, but you instinctively feel she’s hard-working, honest and decent,’’ the article says.
“Which is why you’re willing to give the benefit of the doubt.”
On Wednesday night, Senator Kovacic shared the article on Instagram, asking: “Is this what really passes for political journalism in this country now?”
“Is this the standard we now accept as political journalism?” Kovacic said. “If so, we shouldn’t be surprised when public trust continues to erode”.
“Good political commentary leads with ideas and analysis, not personal judgments.
“Certainly not a headline about whether a political leader is ‘good marriage material.’ Except, it seems, when that politician happens to be the first woman to lead the Liberal Party.”
The article appears to have had its headline updated, with it now reading: ‘Sussan Ley has some explaining to do’. The original headline still appears on The Nightly‘s Instagram page.