The founder of an advocacy group aimed at increasing female representation in the The Liberal Party has relinquished her membership just days after Sussan Ley was rolled from the top job.
Charlotte Mortlock announced her resignation from the party on Sunday after Ley – its first female leader – was replaced by Angus Taylor and the NSW Liberals rejected a proposal for gender quotas she had worked on.
The former journalist and Liberal staffer said in a statement that her departure was due to ‘recent events’.
She also said she would also be leaving the organisation that she had founded – Hilma’s Network – named after Hilma Molyneux who led the NSW suffrage movement.
‘I founded Hilma’s four years ago and am incredibly proud of all we have achieved, mainly the many women we supported across the country throughout preselections and elections. From inception, we quickly grew to multiple states hosting events that challenged the Party to evolve,’ she said in a statement.
‘Due to recent events I have decided there are other ways I can support women and Australia.
‘I wish Hilma’s and the Liberal Party success in the future.’
Previously Mortlock had established Hilma’s Network as a means of attracting female voters back to the party in 2022.
Prominent women’s advocate Charlotte Mortlock has quit the Liberal Party
This announcement comes just days after the party’s first ever female leader, Sussan Ley, was ousted from her position after less than 12 months
Angus Taylor is the new leader of the Liberal Party following a spill
Liberal leader Angus Taylor has pledged to bring stability to the party after knifing Sussan Ley, sparking her imminent resignation from parliament and triggering a hotly contested by-election.
Taylor toppled the party’s first female leader 34 votes to 17 in a Friday leadership ballot, ending her tenure after only nine months.
‘We must look ahead and put the disagreements of the recent past behind us,’ Taylor told reporters following the leadership spill.
‘The choice is simple for the Liberal Party: change or die. I choose change.’
Taylor said home ownership would form the centrepiece of his leadership alongside a focus on growing the economy.
The Liberals’ migration policy would restrict those who did not share Australian values from entering, he said.
Victorian senator Jane Hume was elected Taylor’s deputy, knocking off Ted O’Brien, who will now likely lose his shadow treasurer portfolio.
Ley said she would spend the coming weeks in her regional NSW electorate of Farrer, before tendering her resignation from parliament.
Victorian senator Jane Hume was elected Taylor’s new second-in-command, replacing former deputy Ted O’Brien
‘I leave it for others to judge this period of my leadership, now, and with the passing of time,’ Ley told reporters.
‘While I’m sure plenty of people will have plenty to say, I’ve never sought to influence what other people think of me.
‘I’m not sure what comes next for me,’ Ley said.
‘I look forward to stepping away completely and comprehensively from public life, to spend time with my family, to reconnect with my enduring passion, aviation, which taught me if I had an ego, I’d be dead. It’s been quite useful in politics.’
Ley’s time leading the Liberals was fraught with slip ups and sliding polls and now the party is struggling to regain the foothold it had just five years ago.
Hume said Mortlock’s resignation so soon after Ley’s was ‘a really sad moment’ for the party which is facing an ‘existential crisis’.
‘Charlotte has been a great contributor and a great voice for women that hold Liberal values … this is a really sad moment,’ she told ABC Insiders.
‘The Liberal Party has had its worst results since its formation in 1944. Something has to give. Australians are rightly aggrieved at the moment, and you can see why they’re looking elsewhere, because they weren’t finding the answers in the messages and the policies and the positions that we were taking.
‘That’s why there has been a change.’
Hume said Mortlock’s resignation was ‘a really sad moment’ for the Liberal Party
The Hilma’s Network has already announced its new leader following Mortlock’s departure.
Victorian representative Erin Watson will now take the reigns as the organisation enters ‘a new era’.
‘Erin is a long-term party member, has an in-depth and personal understanding of the Liberal Party and lives in Melbourne, ensuring she is able to bolster (Victorian opposition leader) Jess Wilson and her team in November’s state election,’ the network said in a statement.
‘We extend our deepest appreciation to Charlotte for having the passion and vision to create Hilma’s Network and thank her for her commitment, energy and bravery to support women in politics.
‘This transition represents both continuity and renewal. Our mission remains unchanged, and we are as committed as ever to attracting and promoting the next wave of Liberal women.’
