There were bagpipes, tartan-clad security guards and plenty of kilts, but there was one thing conspicuously missing from billionaire trucking magnate Lindsay Fox’s 86th birthday party: women.
The Scottish-themed private lunch at the National Gallery of Victoria, to which the Fox family donated $100m last year, was a men-only affair attended by several prominent politicians, sportsmen and businessmen.
Guests included the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, who admitted he hadn’t seen any women at Wednesday’s function.
“It was held at the National Gallery, let’s be clear, it wasn’t held at some venue where women are not allowed to go. If it had, I wouldn’t have been there,” Andrews told reporters on Thursday.
“But who gets invited to a birthday party is normally the province of the person who’s celebrating. Now, I’m not a great one for parties, but if I were to have a birthday party, obviously it would be a very different group of people. I might invite all of you.
“I was there to celebrate a fantastic Victorian and to do it at the National Gallery of Victoria where that family are donating $100m towards the building of a new gallery, I thought that was very, very important.”
Dr Deborah Towns, an expert in gender equity at the University of Melbourne, said while it was up to Fox who he invites to events, the guest list sent a “disappointing message”.
“There are a lot of important women in politics, in business, that should have been there,” she said.
“It’s not just a powerful group of people being together celebrating a birthday party – there’s networking and camaraderie and back slapping and everything else that goes on in events like this. It’s where things get done.”
Towns said the “boys’ club” is rooted in social engagements, such as sporting activities, men’s clubs, “old boy” school alumni networks and other exclusive gatherings like birthday parties. Women not privy may be missing out on key opportunities to advance, she said.
“Another example I got a lot, when I conducted some interviews of women in business, was of golf days before conferences that they weren’t even told about. Or if they were told, they couldn’t go because of caring responsibilities,” Towns said.
“It’s not actually part of the conference but a lot of the networking, the decisions are done on the golf course.”
RMIT’s Dr Lauren Gurrieri, who provides advice on gender equality to the Victorian government’s Ministerial Council on Women’s Equality, said the guest list is significant as it “communicates who is important and meaningful in Fox’s circle”.
“Moreover, given Fox’s status, the guest list of such an event would be expected to encompass Melbourne’s political and corporate elite,” she said.
“By only inviting men, it sends a signal that women are not valued or regarded as holding equal or legitimate standing. They quite literally don’t have a seat at the table.”
Also attending the event was former premier Jeff Kennett, businessmen Gerry Harvey and Solomon Lew, property developer Michael Gannon, TV personality Eddie McGuire, Westpac chair John McFarlane, golfer Greg Norman, AFL great Kevin Sheedy and seven-time Melbourne Cup winning horse owner Lloyd Williams.
The St Kilda Football Club, where Fox is a former president and player, was also represented, with its president, Andrew Bassat, arriving with actor Eric Bana, who barracks for the club.
Lawyer Anthony Howard, the husband of the Victorian governor, Linda Dessau, also participated in the festivities. Dessau did not attend.
Nor did Melbourne’s lord mayor, Sally Capp, who last year joined Fox for 12-day cruise from New York to Montreal for his 85th birthday.
The Victorian Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam – whose party plays hold the balance of power in the state parliament’s upper house – was not invited, though she is not surprised.
“I’ve experienced politics being a kind of boys’ club and sometimes it literally is one,” she said.
“This is revealing about how power is really wielded in this country.”
