investigation
Election 2022: Painted Dog Research and poll of 50 female voters show Scott Morrison’s issue with WA women

Fifty young women voters. Fifty near-identical views on Scott Morrison. And barely one good thing to say about him. On the back of polling showing the Prime Minister has a big problem with females under the age of 30, The West Australian hit the streets to find out what bugged them about a man who is the father of two young daughters. What we heard was a chorus of criticism, delivered virtually in unison by a cohort who complain that ScoMo’s values, language and ignorance of women’s issues leave them ice-cold. Painted Dog Research commissioned by The West, which polled hundreds of women aged 18 to 29, found just 14 per cent of them rated Mr Morrison’s performance as satisfactory. That was slightly worse than Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese at 16 per cent. But the big difference emerged in the number of young women who expressed dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister — a whopping 60 per cent, compared with 33 per cent for Mr Albanese. The poll was conducted before Sunday’s landmark Coalition housing policy aimed at young people, as was The West’s follow-up vox pop of 50 female voters which aimed to dig deeper into the reasons for their disillusionment. The responses from our face-to-face encounters were scathing. “He has no understanding of what women need,” Evy Donaldson, 22, told the newspaper. Tahlia Glasson, also 22, said: “I just don’t feel like he represents me or understands women and women’s issues.” Hannah O’Toole, 20, said he “hasn’t really shown any positive views on women. To me, he’s an open sexist.” Mr Morrison’s response to the allegation by former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins that she was raped in her boss’ office in 2019 — making her the face of Australia’s #MeToo movement alongside 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame — was cited as a key reason for the negativity. Holly Prentice, 24, agreed. “Any man who says he needs to have a wife and kids to understand a woman’s point — I’m not there for,” she said. Isabella Courbett, 26, went further, labelling the Prime Minister a “misogynist” and “transphobe”. Another controversy troubling young female voters was Mr Morrison’s family holiday in the midst of deadly bushfires on the east coast in 2019. It was the second most troublesome issue for Ms Bywaters. “When Australia was in crisis, he decided it was a good time to take a holiday and we don’t need someone like that.” Moana Davis, 23, said Mr Morrison did not handle natural disasters in recent years “the right way”, calling for “more action in that department especially around climate change”. While most women interviewed responded with an unhesitating “no” when asked whether they would vote for a Morrison-led government, one said that even though she didn’t like the Prime Minister, she preferred him to Mr Albanese, who “doesn’t know what he’s talking about without being handed a piece of paper”. Of the handful of women who said they would be voting for Mr Morrison, one stated: “You should vote for the party, not the man.” The polling comes as WA Labor launches a women-orientated strategy in the final week of campaigning, illustrated by a photo of Mr Albanese flanked by local female candidates. The Prime Minister’s claimed strength on economic management does not resonate with young women. Just 37 per cent of respondents to the Painted Dog Research poll said he was the better economic leader, compared with 63 per cent for Mr Albanese. “I think I’ve just taken into account their values a bit more this election rather than their economic policies,” 24-year-old Kelsey Lang said.

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Election 2022: Painted Dog Research and poll of 50 female voters show Scott Morrison’s issue with WA women

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investigation
Election 2022: Painted Dog Research and poll of 50 female voters show Scott Morrison’s issue with WA women