“Prime Minister Abbott is one of the least sexist MPs I know, and I gave his support of paid parental leave as an example of his understanding of issues affecting women,” Senator Boyce said today.
“There is subtle sexism in Parliament, as there is in most sectors of Australian business. I do not resile from that but Mr Abbott is certainly not a sexist.”
Fairfax Media reported that Senator Boyce said Mr Abbott would have better been described by Ms Gillard as a sexist in her misogyny speech in October 2012.
Senator Boyce, who is retiring at the end of June, was also quoted as saying some of the coalition’s older members “yearned for the life when proper mothers stayed home and looked after the children and proper fathers who had their slippers handed to them”.
Today she said she “was very distressed by the Fairfax reports which grossly misrepresented” her views.
“I do not want this as my legacy and I have apologised to the Prime Minister who graciously made the point that as ex-journalists we both know how words and context can be distorted,” she said.
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