At the June 2 briefing, she told members, “The issue of female members is completely off the table for four years.” He said the reason it was raised was due to the decrease in members, who had since recovered.
Athenaeum’s latest annual report said 140 members joined the club in 2021, its largest membership increase in more than three decades, which grew to more than 1300.
A current high-profile member, who refused to be appointed because public speaking could lead to her expulsion, said keeping women out of the club was “crazy”.
“I think it’s crazy. I think it’s shit nuts,” he said.
About 40% of members surveyed told researchers they were completely opposed to female membership. Nine percent said they would likely cancel their membership if women could join. Thirteen percent said they did not have a firm view on the issue.
Men pay thousands of dollars to join the society, which claims to be one of the oldest private social clubs in Australia (created in 1868) and offers total privacy.
Other private men’s clubs in the city include the Melbourne Club and the Melbourne Savage Club. Private women’s clubs include the Alexandra Club and the Melbourne Lyceum Club.
Sydney’s elite Australian club last year voted to remain men-only, although women can attend as guests.
The Athenaeum Club in London has been admitting women since 2002.
Ridley established the Melbourne Forum, which is open to everyone, with other members of the split Athenaeum group.
Samuel, who resigned from the Athenaeum when he was president of the ACCC, said the committee should be willing to lose 9 percent of men who threatened to cancel their membership.
“I don’t know what worries them, good God,” Samuel said.
“You can’t stop saying, ‘What’s going on, for heaven’s sake?’ … I want to hear the opinions of everyone, I don’t just want to hear the opinions of a select group of men ”.
Terry Moran, a former secretary of the Prime Minister’s and Cabinet Department who also left the club, said “young fogeys” were behind what he described as continued discrimination.
“The club aims to bring together people who hold leadership positions … this cannot be done if it does not include 50 per cent of the population,” Moran said.
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Leaked footage from the June 2 meeting showed Peter Singline, a researcher overseeing the poll, saying the influx of young Conservative members could lead to “a very determined mindset about what life is all about.”
“I don’t know how you would approach this, but it seems to me that younger members represent a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you joined recently, you joined feeling that ‘that’s exactly what I want,'” he said. .
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