She was touted to take over the leadership within the Victorian Nationals, but yesterday Euroa MP Steph Ryan quit politics in a bid to gain more flexibility and spend time with her young family.
Ryan, 36 who is currently pregnant with her second child, told The Age that serving her community had “been the honour of a lifetime” but that “with a little one at home and another on the way, it is time for me to seek a job that offers greater flexibility”.
“The greatest pleasure of this job has been the opportunity it has afforded me to meet everyday people doing extraordinary things”, she added. “I’m also immensely proud to have served as the deputy leader of the Nationals for the past eight years and to be the first woman in the party’s history to be elected to a leadership position, state or federal.”
While Ryan thanked her colleagues for the opportunities she’d received and and refrained from directly condemning politics as a hostile and archaic environment for women and families, the message was loud and clear: We need to do more.
There’s no reason that politics can’t follow in the footsteps of so many other industries in opening up a more level playing field.
We know the policies that will make a difference: Improved paid parental leave entitlements, universal childcare, leadership support and advocacy and remote work opportunities, to name a few.
But sadly for the Nationals and the broader Coalition, these are not policies generally backed. And, one of the consequences of failing to support long-term structural reform for women and families, is seeing talented women like Steph Ryan falling through the cracks.
Ryan said her community deserved an MP who could “devote 150 per cent of their time and energy” representing them– a commitment she could no longer provide.
“In reality, that means someone who can give [themselves] freely on weeknights and weekends and that, at this stage in my life, is not compatible with my wish to be more present for my family,” she said.
But those kind of rigid hours and requirements do not befit a modern nation nor do they align with the future of work.
For a party that’s critically struggling to attract and retain women, Ryan’s departure will come as a blow. The Victorian Coalition in particular, lost several senior MPs during the 2018 election.
Surely that’s a clear enough sign that the LNP status quo is no longer tenable for most.