When we’re talking money management skills, women beat men hands down. I don’t know why or how, but in my experience women have what it takes to take control of the family budget and are generally more sensible when making financial decisions. Guys, I know what your thinking. You want to bring up that case of the ex-girlfriend who spent all her money and most of yours on mascara and strawberry daiquiris before dumping you and leaving you with three grand to pay off your credit card. But for every case of the girl gone bad there are just as many situations (and then some) of the guy who hasn’t got a clue how to handle money.

Which is what makes it so disappointing that at the highest levels of government there are bugger all women. In fact the only woman in the federal cabinet is Julie Bishop, and being Foreign Minister means she will spend huge amounts of time out of the country. No female PM, no female Treasurer, no female Deputy PM and no female Finance Minister adds up to a bunch of men running the economy. Given that former Treasurer Peter Costello, arguably the best Treasurer we’ve had, describes Abbott as economically illiterate, and that Abbott himself admits that economics bores him, it doesn’t auger well for the next three years.

Some people think that the number of women in Abbott’s ministry should not be about filling quotas. I reckon it’s a lot more involved than that.