Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has spoken openly about the problems she sees in federal politics in her first televised interview since the Liberal leadership challenge.
Ms Bishop, who eventually contested but lost her bid for the leadership during the spill, has spoken openly about her view of issues in Australian federal politics.
She has criticised what she calls "vicious" behaviour in parliament, telling the Nine Network having more female representatives would help address the problem.
Overall, less than one in four federal Liberal MPs are women, compared with almost half of the Labor representatives.
Labor adopted a resolution in 2015 for women to make up 50 per cent of its parliamentarians by 2025.
The Liberal Party has no such quotas, with Prime Minister Scott Morrison one of many saying merit would be in question if quotas were introduced
Ms Bishop, the first female foreign minister for Australia, says it is hard to say all of the male MPs have their positions because of merit.
Julie Bishop also criticised the raucous behaviour in parliamentary question time.
Female Liberal MPs Julia Banks, Ann Sudmalis and Luci Gichuhi have all cited bullying and intimidation as problems in parliament.
Ms Banks and Ms Sudmalis will not contest the next election as a result.
Ms Bishop says politicians are often lauded for being as ruthless as possible.
But One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says Ms Bishop is only drawing attention to the issue out of spite.
Senator Hanson has told Channel Seven she believes Ms Bishop has contributed to the poor behaviour in question time as much as any male MP.
