Vic Lib female MPs 'bullied in own party'

Victoria's Liberal Party is looking for more women members, but a review has found female MPs are being bullied, threatened and intimidated.

Upper house MP Inga Peulich said she had been the victim of bullying and cyber bullying from within the party.

Upper house MP Inga Peulich said she had been the victim of bullying and cyber bullying from within the party. (Facebook)

Female Liberal MPs say they are bullied, threatened and intimidated as Victoria's new opposition leader says the party needs more women.

Women wanting to stand for preselection were asked who would cook their family meals and details about their marital status, a report has found.

Caroline Elliott presented a review of the party's engagement with women at the Victorian Liberal Party state council on Sunday and called for an end to the bullying.

"This sort of behaviour is not tolerated in a workplace, or in our homes, and there is no place for it in our party," she said.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy used his first speech to the party faithful to call for more women to join the parliamentary ranks.

"I've made a point in saying to this party that we need more women in our team," Mr Guy said.

"We need to continue a strong focus on multicultural communities and to properly engage Victoria's gay community."

Upper house MP Inga Peulich said she had been the victim of bullying and cyber bullying from within the party.

"The party has been aware of it, and has chosen not to do anything about it," she said.

The report found women seeking preselection were asked about their family and personal life, while men were not.

For instance, `how were they going to balance family and political life?', `who would cook the meals?' and questions regarding their marital status, it said.

Upper house MP Mary Wooldridge said data showed the Liberals had lost the female vote.

"We've gone from a party where women clearly vote for us, to one where they clearly do not," she said.

Since July 2014, there were no Victorian female Liberal senators for the first time since 1949.

The report recommended the creation of a women's network to encourage Liberal women to connect and get each other involved, as well as the introduction of a code of conduct.

The review found there was no appetite for quotas of female candidates, but candidates' gender data should be recorded so improvements could be tracked.

Mr Guy said the party needed to reform to beat Labor and win back government in 2018.

"To achieve that we do need to modernise. The community must see themselves reflected in us," he said.


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Source: AAP


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