"it's possible that a gender-balanced parliament might ultimately choose to follow the example set by Norway and Sweden. Both have introduced legislation extending the principle of gender parity into the private sector. Last year, 600 of Norway's largest publicly-traded companies reached their first deadline to increase the number of women on their corporate boards from 8.4 per cent in 2002 to 40 per cent. Those which fail to meet the target by 2007 could see their boards de-certified -- essentially losing their license to operate in Norway."