Turnbull's 'sex ban' speech reveals that politics is still not an equal place for women but it is changing

However, when he made those , Turnbull also raised much broader issues about the position of women in parliament that are worth discussing in more depth.

Turnbull that there were 'some very serious issues about the culture of this place, of this parliament' that involved gender.

He stated: 'Many women … who work in this building understand very powerfully what I am saying'. Consequently, the old needed to be revised because it didn't adequately reflect the values 'of workplaces where women are respected'.

Turnbull went on to :

Turnbull is crafting an image of , of a fatherly protectiveness toward potentially vulnerable women, which he hopes will appeal both to social conservatives and feminists.

Leading Liberal Party social conservatives such as have supported his ban. As has been , Turnbull's position also references the challenging of conventional gender power relations in the workplace by movements such as #MeToo. (Though it should be noted that both some social conservatives and feminists may have reservations about the specific measures Turnbull advocates.)

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It was an acknowledgement of gendered power relations in parliament that more socially conservative predecessors such as or would have been unlikely to make. Indeed, Turnbull's broader statements also raise feminist issues that may cause some tensions with social conservatives in the longer term.

For example, why, as Turnbull acknowledges, are most of the ministers in parliament male?

Turnbull was pulled up when he to have the most female cabinet ministers of any Australian government so far. It was that, at best, his record equalled Kevin Rudd's, and that number has actually dropped since the .

Indeed, Rudd had a higher percentage of female cabinet members – 30% compared with Turnbull's initial 27% that dropped to 24% after Ley's resignation, and to 22% when Turnbull expanded his cabinet from 21 to 23. Furthermore, there is only one female minister out of the seven in the .

Turnbull should be praised for having both a female foreign minister and defence minister, since these are senior portfolios not traditionally held by women. Nonetheless, Peter Van Onselen has written tellingly regarding the apparent gender bias in Liberal cabinet selections, and the serious female talent that has been overlooked as a result, in both the and cabinets.

Despite this, the situation has obviously improved markedly under Turnbull.

Julie Bishop about her experience of being the only woman in Abbott's first cabinet, and of how she'd put forward excellent ideas that were ignored, only to have a male colleague repeat the same idea and be lauded for it.

It was, she said, a form of unconscious bias that resulted in 'almost a deafness'. Clearly cultural change and more respect for women in the workplace were needed there.

Furthermore, it isn't just a case of the majority of ministers being male – so are the .

Women are seriously among Liberal MPs. As of November 2017, only 22% of Liberal politicians were women (with Labor's proportion then being 45%).

Consequently, it isn't just the culture in ministers' offices that needs changing. Some female Liberal politicians, such as senator Linda Reynolds, to the need for broader cultural change in the Liberal Party to ensure more female politicians are recruited and women's abilities are recognised.

Some have , given merit is clearly not being recognised in candidate pre-selection, the Liberal Party should consider introducing quotas like Labor has done.

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Parliamentary culture in general , with women often bearing the brunt of sexist attitudes. The culture is also one that has often rewarded particularly macho conceptions of masculinity that can disadvantage some men as well as women.

No wonder women can become the target or collateral damage, often aided and abetted by highly gendered . The problems are not just confined to the Coalition, pervading most if not all parties, although some are doing better than others.

Indeed, while it has substantially increased its number of female politicians, Labor sometimes falls back on some of its old habits in regard to gender. These include appointing exceptionally capable female candidates to try to improve Labor's image after male politicians have made a mess of things — a scenario that former premiers and knew well.

Think of replacing Sam Dastyari in the Senate – although at least she is guaranteed her spot, unlike , who is faced with the difficult task of trying to retain Batman for Labor against the Greens following .

However, clearly things are changing, and the gendered nature of parliamentary politics is under challenge. Turnbull's acknowledgement of gendered power imbalances in parliament reveals that, even if he avoided discussing his own party's contribution to them.

All states in Australia, other than South Australia, have now had a female premier, with some having had more than one. While Australia's first female prime minister, Julia Gillard, regularly had , Australians will be watching the progress of New Zealand's third female prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, with great interest. Perhaps, one day, we will even stop discussing her and her .

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