THE Liberal National Party has a problem getting women to join it.

Even Capricornia MP Michelle Landry admits it is something that needs to be addressed in the bitter aftermath of the party's dumping of accomplished assistant minister Jane Prentice.

READ: Landry upset over dumping of mentor in LNP 'boy's club'

While Ms Landry and I agree on the need for more women to join the ranks of our politicians, we diverged on how best to do this.

I was convinced of the power of quotas after reading British MP Jess Phillips's Everywoman, where she reflects on the changes the policy has had on the Labour Party's gender diversity.

In the UK, 45 per cent of Labour Party MPs are women.

Labour's 119 women in parliament is more than those in all the other parties combined.

Only 32 per cent of MPs in total are women.

Many of the women selected using Labour's all-women shortlist now work in senior parliamentary roles.

The party first used the shortlists in 1997, with the aim of selecting female candidates to stand for half the seats they expected to win.

These women are not less capable, less experienced, less educated than male counterparts.

The shortlists afford them opportunities based on their merit, not the boy's club or the old school tie which undoubtedly furthers the chances of so many male politicians (some of whom can be described as mediocre at best).

Quotas do not eliminate merit: women are still competing for a job based on their experience and achievements.

There are many other issues we need to address to diversify our parliament.

We need to see people with disabilities, queer-identifying people and ethnically and religiously diverse people representing a society as nuanced as modern Australia.

It may help to look at it in terms of equity versus equality.

Equality is treating everyone equally, but equity is giving people what they need to be successful.

It's time for equity, Australia.