Josh Frydenberg Reckons Voters Will Just “Overlook” The Coalition’s Massive Gender Problems

It hasn’t been a great year for the Coalition’s standing among women. From the Barnaby Joyce affair to Julia Banks quitting the government over its treatment of women, to the bizarre allegations against Andrew ‘G’day Mate’ Broad, it feels as though the government has just lurched from one sexism scandal to another. Don’t worry though. Treasurer and boy who dreams of one day being prime minister Josh Frydenberg reckons voters don’t really care about that stuff.

“I think the Australian people overlook those issues and really are focused on the outcomes that the Government can deliver them,” Frydenberg told ABC radio host Sabra Lane when asked about the Broad scandal.

‘Sugar daddy’ MP Andrew Broad will retain his $200k salary until May after he decided not to quit Parliament immediately. The compromise plan should net him about $85,000 before tax https://t.co/miuypqdp2Q

— 𝕤𝕒𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 (@samanthamaiden) December 18, 2018

In case you missed it, Broad, a Nationals MP from Victoria, quit his position in the ministry this week after a woman came forward claiming to be his sugar baby and shared a number of texts, allegedly from Broad, full of sweet nothings like “I know how to ride a horse, fly a plane and fuck my woman” and “I pull you close, run my strong hands down your back, softly kiss your neck and whisper ‘Gday mate'”.

Broad is married, by the way.

In her interview with Frydenberg, Lane said the Broad scandal “feeds the perception the Coalition has a woman problem, or, as some put it, a man problem”.

“You think voters are going to overlook things like Barnaby Joyce, this matter, women quitting the frontbench over bullying, Julie Bishop also saying the Coalition has a woman problem?” she asked.

“Look, you will focus on these issues in every interview you do with the treasurer, but the treasurer is focused on delivering a strong, healthy economy,” Frydenberg replied, referring to himself in the third person like a fucking weirdo.

Shortly after quitting as foreign minister, Julie Bishop said the Liberal Party was having internal discussions about “bullying, intimidation, harassment and coercion” and the “unfair unequal treatment of women”. Meanwhile, Minister for Women Kelly O’Dwyer told her colleagues last month that members of the Liberal Party are perceived as “homophobic, anti-women, climate-change deniers”.

But hey, maybe Frydenberg is right. Maybe Australians don’t care about that stuff. Guess we’ll find out at the election.