[The report, compiled by the sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, and released on Tuesday, found more than half of workers in Parliament had experienced bullying, sexual harassment or actual or attempted sexual assault, with women reporting higher rates than men. One person interviewed for the report said young women in Parliament were treated like “fresh meat.”]
Thursday, the last day of
Parliament in 2021, began with a minister’s former staffer alleging he swore at
her and told her to get out of his bed while kicking her
naked to the floor in a hotel room during a work trip.
The allegation — which Education
Minister Alan Tudge has denied — was in keeping with a dismaying week in
Australian politics that has highlighted what critics describe as a toxic culture.
In the House of Representatives,
the opposition leader called the defense minister a “boofhead.”
The atmosphere was even worse
across the hall in the Senate, where one female lawmaker told another that “at least I keep my legs shut.”
When another female senator stood
up to speak, a male colleague allegedly growled at her like a dog.
[Death
threats, mock hangings and a used condom: Anti-vaxxers target Australian
politicians]
The string of incidents came the
same week a scathing report revealed widespread
harassment in federal Parliament, and capped a year in which politicians’
behavior has been in the spotlight.
The report, compiled by the sex
discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, and released on Tuesday, found more
than half of workers in Parliament had experienced bullying, sexual harassment
or actual or attempted sexual assault, with women reporting higher rates than
men. One person interviewed for the report said young women in Parliament were
treated like “fresh meat.”
The report was commissioned in
March in response to a former ministerial staffer’s account of being raped in
Parliament House, an allegation that stirred national protests. The former staffer,
Brittany Higgins, alleged she was assaulted in 2019 inside Parliament House by
a colleague who will soon stand trial.
On the afternoon of the report’s
release, conservative senator David Van was accused of growling and making dog
noises while Sen. Jacqui Lambie, an independent, was speaking. The following
day, Sen. Lidia Thorpe of the Greens told a conservative opponent, Sen. Hollie
Hughes, “at least I keep my legs shut,” during a spat on the
Senate floor. Both have since apologized, though Van said he was misheard.
The tumultuous week was in keeping
with a charged year in which gendered violence and politics repeatedly collided
in the public eye Down Under.
The nation’s most senior law
officer, then-Attorney General Christian Porter, in March denied a woman’s claim that he raped her in 1988;
the woman died by suicide before the allegation became public. More than
100,000 people took to the streets in Women’s March 4 Justice protests, with
demands focused on Parliament and its working culture.
It’s the last thing Prime Minister Scott
Morrison needs as he heads into a summer election campaign. The conservative
leader has faced criticism for his response to the year’s female fury —
particularly for his comment that it was a “triumph of democracy” for Women’s March protesters to
rally outside Parliament House without being “met with bullets.” It’s expected
Morrison will call Australians to the polls in May, and his performance on
gender equality could be a key flash point.
As politicians were preparing for a
last-day flurry of legislative activity Thursday morning, Tudge’s former
staffer delivered the latest accusation.
In a news conference, Rachelle
Miller said her relationship with her then-married boss was emotionally abusive
and, on one occasion, physically abusive.
“This is not about revenge, it has
never ever been about that, it’s about ensuring no one goes through this, in
this workplace, ever again,” she said.
Tudge rejects her account and said
their relationship was at all times consensual but one he deeply regrets. He
stood aside as minister Thursday while an investigation takes place.
Jane Caro, a commentator on
Australian politics and gender, said she felt a sense of “weariness and
exhaustion” at the wave of news. But she had never before seen so many women in
politics taking allegations public at the same time, preventing anyone from
becoming a solitary and more easily discredited figure in the eye of the media
storm.
“What does give me hope is that
what has fundamentally changed is not men,” she said. “Obviously I’m
generalizing here, but male culture has not changed — and female culture has
comprehensively changed.”
Women, she said, “aren’t putting up
with it anymore.” “We have an upswell of women saying, ‘This is outrageous,’ ” Caro added.
Morrison has said he looks forward
to going through the 28 recommendations of the sex discrimination
commissioner’s report, which he initiated after Higgins’s rape allegation. He
has not committed to fully implementing them and said the response to the
report should include the opposition and minor parties.
“We all have a responsibility to
fix this,” he said.
Read more
Death
threats, mock hangings and a used condom: Anti-vaxxers target Australian
politicians
Australia
leader pushes voter ID law, courting right-wing support before election
