Scott Morrison’s own government is spending $200,000 on workshops teaching public servants in Canberra about radical feminism and ‘mansplaining’.
The Prime Minister and his Treasurer Josh Frydenberg this week admitted the summer bushfires and the coronavirus were likely to jeopardise his government’s promise of delivering a surplus budget in 2020.
Despite that, the public purse is still generously funding radical feminist workshops run by Future Women, a training company which former Australian Women’s Weekly editor Helen McCabe founded in 2017 to capitalise on the ‘Me Too’ movement.
She describes her workshops as a ‘safe space to motivate women as we push for a gender equal world’.
Scott Morrison’s own government is spending $200,000 on workshops teaching public servants in Canberra about feminism and ‘mansplaining’. Taxpayer funds have gone to Future Women, a training company which former Australian Women’s Weekly editor Helen McCabe (left) founded in 2017 to capitalise on the ‘Me Too’ movement
An analysis of government tender documents by Daily Mail Australia show taxpayers spent $198,000 in late 2019 on training and management workshops across seven government departments and agencies.
This included $33,000 by Mr Morrison’s Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for ‘human resources services’ through to the end of 2020.
Daily Mail Australia has sought a comment from the Prime Minister’s office.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s department also shelled out $33,000 for a year’s worth of ‘education and training’ workshops.
The departments in charge of employment and industry, and the Australian Public Service Commission also paid for seminars on feminism.
Future Women describes itself as an organisation for women ‘who object to being mansplained, talked over, ignored, dismissed, or told to take the minutes or pour the tea, to sit down, be quiet, be nice and decorative, to not make this about gender all the time, are labelled difficult and disingenuous’.
The company manifesto also alleges females in the workplace have their complaints ‘invalidated for the modest crime of being a woman’.
The Future Women Academy vows to combat ‘unconscious bias’ by promoting feminism at work, and its website also features a guide on ‘fourth-wave feminism’.
‘We’re driving an ambitious change agenda to modernise our workplaces and create more diverse, inclusive and gender-balanced work cultures where everyone can contribute and achieve success,’ it said.
Emilie Dye, the director of policy at the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, said taxpayer spending on feminism workshops was ‘wasteful’ as the bushfires and coronavirus required more government resources.
An analysis of government tender documents, by Daily Mail Australia, show taxpayers spent $198,000 in late 2019 on training and management workshops across seven government departments and agencies. Pictured is a Future Women forum from 2018
‘It’s an extreme waste of money particularly when our budget surplus is decreasing, the economy’s being strained by coronavirus, bushfires were super expensive,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Thursday.
‘And then we’re spending money on random workshops.
‘Every dollar matters to the taxpayer.’
Ms Dye said that as a woman, she found the idea of ‘mansplaining’ seminars and ‘gender workshops’ to be ‘incredibly frustrating’.
‘A lot of people don’t see “mansplaining” or “manspreading” as an issue,’ she said.
‘As a woman, I don’t really have a problem with that. It’s pushing a certain agenda.’
Ms Dye argued the focus on so-called microaggressions did little to tackle more serious issues like sexual harassment and genuine cases of sexism.
Future Women also has a magazine-style website with a ‘hot list’ of books by feminist authors, including Naomi Wolf, who was arrested in 2011 for participating in Occupy Wall Street protests in New York.
This included $33,000 by Mr Morrison’s Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for ‘human resources services’ through to the end of 2020
Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) and his Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (right) this week admitted the summer bushfires and the coronavirus were likely to jeopardise his government’s promise of delivering a surplus budget in 2020
Controversial feminist Clementine Ford is described as one of ‘eight things FW is loving right now’, despite the fact she was removed in 2018 from a Lifeline charity event for tweeting ‘kill all men’.
Former Labor adviser Jamila Rizvi described Ford’s book Boys Will Be Boys as ‘a gritty, maddening and eye-opening read’.
Future Women also promotes hard-left politicians, including New York-based American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rails against capitalism.
An article on the Future Women website incorrectly describes Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 30, as ‘the youngest female senator in US history’ – she is in the House of Representatives representing New York’s 14th congressional district.
It also seems to overlook how the Democrat lawmaker doesn’t ‘govern’ the United States – that’s the job of Republican President Donald Trump and his administration.
Controversial feminist Clementine Ford is described as one of ‘eight things FW is loving right now’, despite the fact she was removed in 2018 from a Lifeline charity event for tweeting ‘kill all men’
‘AOC continues to unsettle established politicians on both sides of the aisle with her thoroughly modern approach to governing – whether that’s asking a killer question during congressional hearings, or joining a protest outside speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office on climate change in her first week,’ it said.
The Future Women website also features a glowing profile on comedienne Hannah Gadsby, who once described Australian celebrity export Barry Humphries as an ‘inhumane d*** biscuit of the highest order’ for his politically incorrect humour.
‘She moves effortlessly from story-telling to human observation, sexual innuendo, to gender politics and a thorough dissection of privilege, with ease,’ the profile by Ms Rizvi said.
‘Observing her performance is like watching a weaver at work.’