A second reference to Fiona Scott's looks in a week suggests the Coalition thinks such remarks play well with voters
Tony Abbott has again referred to the looks of his candidate for the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, praising her answer to a question about his economic plan with the comment: "Obviously from that answer she ain't just a pretty face."
The candidate, Fiona Scott, chipped in that there was no need to apologise for an "absolutely charming compliment between friends".
After referring to Scott's "sex appeal" last week in a list of attributes that made her a great political candidate, Abbott said he had had a "dad moment" and had been "exuberant" on the day.
But the very deliberate repeat reference suggests Coalition strategists have decided the "sex appeal" comment actually worked for them in the seat, where the Guardian Lonergan poll taken last Thursday showed Scott headed for a decisive victory over assistant treasurer David Bradbury with a thumping 60% of the primary vote.
Kevin Rudd said: "If any male employer stood up in the workplace anywhere in Australia and pointed out a female staff member and said this person is a good staff member because they've got sex appeal, I think people would scratch their heads at least and the employer would find themself in serious strife … In modern Australia sexism or racism or homophobia does not have any place."
But much of the subsequent discussion of the "sex appeal" remark – particularly on commercial radio – was about whether criticism of the remark amounted to "political correctness" and whether other candidates had ever capitalised on their looks during election campaigns, rather than the central issue of whether it was appropriate for the leader of her party to list her looks as one of the attributes that made her a good candidate and potentially a good politician.
Scott, polled 60% of first preferences, a 17-point improvement over her 43.4% performance in 2010. Bradbury polled a 13-point decline on first preferences: 44.6% in 2010 to the poll's 32%.
