Women’s advocate Charlotte Mortlock has started a new political movement that is “ready” to take on One Nation, she says, less than three months after the grassroots organiser quit the Liberal Party.
Ms Mortlock — who founded the Liberal women’s advocacy group Hilma’s Network — relinquished her Liberal Party membership in February after the conservative party toppled its first female leader, Sussan Ley, less than twelve months into the job.
Charlotte Mortlock was formerly a leading advocate for grassroots participation in the Liberal Party. Picture: NewsWire / Nikki Short
Ms Mortlock’s exit also came in the wake of a decision by the NSW Liberals to ditch a proposed vote on gender quotas, a reform which she had helped draft and would require at least 40 per cent of the party’s lower house candidates to be women.
But the former Liberal member’s Something Better campaign was leading the push to establish a new major party “without the baggage”, she told Sky News on Monday.
“We have got over 1000 people signed up already. We need 1500 to get to a new political party,” Ms Mortlock said.
“We’re starting conversations, and we’re trying to not be left or right, conservative versus progressive, because people just want delivery.
Sussan Ley was the Liberal Party’s first female leader. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman,
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor ousted Ms Ley from the top job in a February leadership spill. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui
“There is such an issue of trust at the moment, and that’s the Liberals and Labor.”
“We need something fresh that people believe in, and that they are part of, from the ground, grassroots, as opposed to being top down.
“That is something that I don’t think the major parties have been able to deliver on.”
Following One Nation’s rapid ascent in the polls over the last six months, the far-right party has rolled out a national branch network in April as part of efforts to engage at a grassroots level.
One Nation swept the formerly blue-ribbon seat of Farrer in a historic contest. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Dallinger
Presented with the prospect of competing with One Nation for the conservative vote, Ms Mortlock said: “Yeah, I’m ready for that”.
She also reflected on the Coalition’s historic loss to One Nation in Ms Ley’s former seat of Farrer.
“I wasn’t surprised at all. I think the anti-establishment sentiment and the desire for disruption is so strong now that I didn’t see much hope for the Liberal Party, and I probably expected One Nation to do quite well,” Ms Mortlock said.
“I think they probably did better than I thought.”