Liberal leader Sussan Ley's top aide joined all-male Australian Club
New Opposition Leader Sussan Ley made history when she became the Liberal Party's first female leader.
And Ley's chief of staff, Dean Shachar, is making history of his own as one of the youngest people to hold the top position in the party leader's office.
Ley's decision to retain Shachar in one of the party's most powerful staffing roles raised a few eyebrows, with doubters wondering whether the 30-year-old former University of Sydney student politician was experienced enough for the job. For the record, CBD has no problems with youth.
There's no question that Shachar is a man in a hurry.
Last year, he sought membership of the all-male Australian Club in Sydney and was accepted. Ley wasn't yet leader, but she was the most senior Liberal woman at the time, and the optics of Shachar seeking a membership of the old boys' club haven't been lost among party critics.
Both Shachar and Ley's office declined to comment.
The club might be the only institution in Australia with a worse record on gender than the Liberal Party. The club's members overwhelmingly voted to keep women out in 2021. But it still remains a pretty good ticket for any ambitious Liberal hack hoping to network with the big end of town and party elders.
Former prime ministers John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull are members. And in recent years, there's been a flurry of men from the blue team joining up. That includes newly unemployed Peter Dutton, former minister and ambassador to the United States Arthur Sinodinos, ex-NSW frontbenchers David Elliott and Stuart Ayres, and current MPs James Griffin and Anthony Roberts.
Not on that list is former prime minister Scott Morrison, brutally snubbed by the Australian Club when he sought membership last year. Rather hilariously, Morrison used to be Shachar's boss – he worked in the then prime minister's media team before the 2022 election.
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