tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/brittany-higgins-100241/articlesBrittany Higgins – The Conversation2023-09-13T20:06:09Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2114262023-09-13T20:06:09Z2023-09-13T20:06:09Z‘I just find it very hard to talk about it without getting emotional’: top journalists reveal their trade secrets to Leigh Sales<p>Journalist Samantha Maiden <a href="https://www.walkleys.com/66th-walkley-award-winners-announced/">won Australia’s top award in journalism</a>, the Gold Walkley, in 2022 for her coverage of <a href="https://theconversation.com/man-to-face-court-over-alleged-rape-of-brittany-higgins-165763">the Brittany Higgins case</a>. When talking to Leigh Sales about the experience of covering this story, for Sales’ new book, <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/Storytellers/Leigh-Sales/9781761106965">Storytellers</a>, she found herself in tears. </p>
<p>“Brittany Higgins was obviously a massive story and maybe it is the most important story I will ever write,” she says. “I just find it very hard to talk about it without getting emotional. I don’t have any complaints, but it has dominated my life for nearly two years.”</p>
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<p><em>Review: Storytellers – Leigh Sales (Scribner)</em></p>
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<p>Higgins came to her with the story, Maiden explains, because she’d pointed out on the ABC’s Insiders that political staffers don’t have the same access to unfair dismissal laws as other workers. Higgins felt this demonstrated an understanding of their “fragile” working conditions.</p>
<p>“She also felt that I would not be cowed by the government; she was very concerned about how the government would react so she wanted someone who was going to be fearless and not intimidated easily.”</p>
<p>“If you break enough stories,” says Maiden, “it becomes a bit of a self-saucing pudding, because people seek you out.”</p>
<p>Journalists can have a reputation for being cynical and tough, but many of those featured in Storytellers talk about the emotional impact of the job.</p>
<p>Tracy Grimshaw, for instance, who has interviewed thousands of people, including international celebrities and world leaders, tells Sales her most memorable interview was with a policewoman from regional Australia.</p>
<p>Shelly Walsh had left her two children with her parents overnight while she worked a night shift. When she returned to collect them, she discovered her father had killed her mother and the children. He then attacked her with an axe.</p>
<p>“First of all, she found her mother,” Grimshaw recounts. </p>
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<p>Then she had to use her wits […] her father’s saying, “Do you want a cup of tea?” And she’s thinking at a hundred miles an hour, “Where are the kids? Where are the kids?” I get chills up my spine as I talk about it […] I’ll never forget Shelly telling the story. God, it was traumatic. She was so honest, so unvarnished and so brave to tell her story. That is the interview that will always stay with me. Always.</p>
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<p>Grimshaw’s anecdote, like Maiden’s reflections, are among many that highlight the privilege – and responsibility – that come with the distinctive job of journalism.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Tracy Grimshaw will always remember her ‘traumatic’ interview with ‘unvarnished’ Shelly Walsh.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/inside-the-story-leigh-sales-ordinary-days-and-crafting-empathy-between-the-lines-107890">Inside the story: Leigh Sales, ordinary days and crafting empathy ‘between the lines’</a>
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<p>Storytellers is a series of conversations between Sales and more than 30 experienced Australian journalists about “questions, answers and the craft of journalism”.</p>
<p>Sales herself has had a diverse career as a journalist, starting in 1993 in local news for Channel 9 Brisbane, before moving to the ABC in 1994. She was the ABC’s Washington correspondent in the early 2000s, and has anchored Lateline and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs/730">7.30</a>. </p>
<p>She says she’s fascinated by new ways of thinking about and practising journalism, but the basics of the craft are unchanged. She’s also committed to the ideal of objective journalism, as she made clear in recent public comments.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Leigh Sales was at 7.30 for 12 years.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Last weekend, she told a Women in Media conference in Sydney she was worried about the blurring of activism and journalism, and the loss of “independent journalism”.</p>
<p>“I’m so big on things like setting aside your own opinion and trying to go into things with an open minded mindset,” she said.</p>
<p>In her introduction to the new book, Sales argues an extraordinary amount of experience and knowledge has been drained from newsrooms in recent years, due to staffing cuts. Storytellers is an attempt to fill that gap. </p>
<h2>Where do story ideas come from?</h2>
<p>The focus is “entirely on the practicalities of the craft”, aiming to answer questions such as: Where do story ideas come from? How do you make contacts? What does a good voiceover sound like? How do you make a one-minute video story compelling? How do you know when to interrupt a politician during an interview?</p>
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<p>Sales is not convinced university journalism courses are covering this sort of content. My own experience of working in journalism education is that tertiary courses are highly practical. But Storytellers contains plenty of valuable insights and lessons, to complement and confirm what is taught to aspiring journalists. </p>
<p>Whether the book will interest a wider readership is harder to predict. While emphasis is on storytelling, there’s a lot about process, particularly in regard to broadcast journalism. It might be too much detail for some. The question-and-answer format can be a bit clunky at times, but the idea is for the reader to see how Sales formulates her questions and “learn from her approach”.</p>
<p>The line-up of top journalists featured is testament to Sales’ own reputation and extensive experience. With talent as smart and articulate as novelist and feature writer <a href="https://theconversation.com/boy-swallows-universe-theatrical-adaptation-of-hit-novel-blends-pain-with-nostalgia-to-astonishing-effect-166748">Trent Dalton</a>, investigative reporter Kate McClymont, Teachers’ Pet podcast creator <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-clear-victory-for-dogged-investigative-journalism-chris-dawson-found-guilty-of-murdering-wife-lynette-in-1982-189625">Hedley Thomas</a> and SBS Insight host <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/may/25/three-things-with-kumi-taguchi-it-truly-hurts-my-heart-that-i-didnt-look-after-piglet-well-enough">Kumi Taguchi</a>, Sales could not really go wrong.</p>
<p>Storytellers is divided into ten sections, including news reporting, foreign correspondence, interviewing, anchoring, and commentary and analysis. Some of the most engaging parts of the book relate to interviewing. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Kate McClymont talks to Barrie Cassidy about her journalism career.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The art of the interview</h2>
<p>It’s fascinating to see how these professionals approach and interact with the people they interview. </p>
<p>Grimshaw is included in the chapter dedicated to interviewing, as are <a href="https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/laurie-oakes">Laurie Oakes</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/people/richard-fidler/7689816">Richard Fidler</a>. They’re all veteran interviewers with quite different styles. But almost all the journalists in the book discuss their interviewing approaches and practices.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/interested-curious-and-empathetic-michael-parkinson-helped-bridge-the-gap-between-australia-and-england-211824">Interested, curious and empathetic, Michael Parkinson helped bridge the gap between Australia and England</a>
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<p>Feature writer and novelist Trent Dalton adds some humour with his unorthodox techniques for getting interview subjects to talk about sensitive topics. Sales put it to him that a journalist can “pretty much ask anything if you preface it with ‘I hope I don’t seem insensitive, and you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to’”. To which Dalton replies: </p>
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<p>Oh Leigh, that is powerful. I phrase that sentence in so many different ways. Sometimes I’ll say that like, “Mate, please tell me to fuck off” or “Listen, I know this is so hard to talk about. But if you don’t mind, I think we might be able to go to places that mean a lot to people.”</p>
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<p>Several of the journalists say they’re often surprised by people’s willingness to be interviewed. This aligns with <a href="https://theconversation.com/interviews-with-journalists-can-seem-daunting-but-new-research-shows-80-of-subjects-report-a-positive-experience-200821">research</a> that’s found most people are receptive to giving a news interview and that the benefits of the experience tend to outweigh the negatives.</p>
<p>Award-winning Sydney Morning Herald investigative reporter <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/by/kate-mcclymont-hvede">Kate McClymont</a>, who has exposed corruption in politics, unions and sport, has been able to persuade many reluctant sources, including criminals, to be interviewed over the years.</p>
<p>While she acknowledges she’s “gonna piss people off” and that’s part of her job, she says it’s crucial to treat everyone with respect. “People are very skeptical about journalists and feel that we just use and abuse them,” she says. “If you try to make people feel as though you value and appreciate even the smallest things they have done for you, it helps.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-plagued-journalists-have-traded-their-independence-for-access-resulting-in-a-kind-of-political-pornography-189124">In Plagued, journalists have traded their independence for access, resulting in a kind of political pornography</a>
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<p>Storytellers demonstrates how diverse and exciting the job of journalism can be. Many of the journalists recount being at history-making events such as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/9-11-conspiracy-theories-debunked-20-years-later-engineering-experts-explain-how-the-twin-towers-collapsed-167353">September 11 terrorist attacks</a> in the United States, or the <a href="https://theconversation.com/boxing-day-tsunami-balancing-social-and-physical-recovery-35155">Boxing Day tsunami</a> of 2004.</p>
<p>Journalism can be demanding and challenging. And it requires a lot of courage. Former Four Corners executive producer <a href="https://halloffame.melbournepressclub.com/article/marian-wilkinson">Marian Wilkinson</a> talks about the knot she feels in her stomach before a big story breaks – and the repercussions that follow. </p>
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<p>The person who’s the subject of the story will come back at you […] powerful people almost always fight – a lawsuit, defamation threats, it goes on and on – and often quite viciously.</p>
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<p>While acknowledging the demands of the job and the <a href="https://dartcenter.org/">trauma that can be associated with it</a>, Storytellers’ overriding message is that to be a journalist is a privilege. </p>
<p>“There’s no job like journalism,” veteran Channel Seven reporter <a href="https://www.walkleys.com/award-winners/chris-reason-lindt-cafe-siege/">Chris Reason</a> tells Sales. “There’s no job that gives you the passport to get to the sorts of places, incidents, moments in our community and our history that journalism provides.”</p>
<p>For many of Sales’ subjects, the best part of being a journalist is the interactions with people. And often the most profound conversations and exchanges are with “ordinary” people. </p>
<p>As Grimshaw says: </p>
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<p>They’re always the interviews that are far more revelatory to me than celebrities or politicians. It’s how ordinary people navigate the extraordinary that keeps me doing the job.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Shine does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Leigh Sales’ new book shares the insights of more than 30 prominent and experienced Australian journalists, including Laurie Oakes, Samantha Maiden and Trent Dalton, about their craft.Kathryn Shine, Associate Professor, Journalism, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2110332023-08-07T07:41:38Z2023-08-07T07:41:38ZNew report into Lehrmann prosecution mires case in yet more controversy<p>The ACT government on Monday officially <a href="https://www.justice.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2263980/ACT-Board-of-Inquiry-Criminal-Justice-System-Final-Report-31-July-2023.pdf">released the report</a> from the inquiry into the prosecution of former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegation. </p>
<p>The inquiry is only one of at least seven legal proceedings linked to the high-profile, politically-charged case. </p>
<p>The report’s findings have been reported in the media for several days after the inquiry’s chair, former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/03/inquiry-into-lehrmann-prosecution-sent-report-to-media-without-authorisation-act-government-says">provided</a> the report under embargo to selected media without the knowledge of the ACT government. One journalist received the report <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/07/walter-sofronoff-report-released-inquiry-misconduct-findings-shane-drumgold">before</a> it was handed to Chief Minister Andrew Barr.</p>
<p>The ACT government said it’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2023/aug/07/australia-politics-live-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-question-time-anthony-albanese-peter-dutton-sofronoff-lehrmann-act-andrew-barr#top-of-blog">considering charging</a> Sofonoff in relation to releasing the report to journalists ahead of the embargo. </p>
<h2>What did the report find?</h2>
<p>The report makes “several serious findings of misconduct” against former Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold. </p>
<p>Despite this, the report found the prosecution was properly brought – in other words, that the decision to prosecute was appropriate. This is significant because whether there was sufficient evidence to charge Lehrmann was a central issue of tension between the police and Drumgold. </p>
<p>The negative findings against Drumgold include that he:</p>
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<li><p>publicly released the controversial letter he sent to the ACT police chief after receiving a freedom of information request, without consulting with the ACT police chief about its release</p></li>
<li><p>failed in his duty of disclosure to the defence by not providing it with an executive briefing note by Detective Superintendent Scott Moller, who led the police investigation into Higgins’ allegations, and Detective Inspector Boorman’s evidence analysis</p></li>
<li><p>improperly questioned Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds. It was found, among other things, that it was improper to put to Reynolds that she was politically invested in the outcome of the trial</p></li>
<li><p>made public statements of support in relation to Higgins in the wake of the aborted trial that were inappropriate because they “gave rise to a reasonable inference that Mr Drumgold was stating his opinion that he thought that Mr Lehrmann was guilty”</p></li>
<li><p>“knowingly lied” to the chief justice in the lead-up to the trial about the extent of the warning he gave journalist Lisa Wilkinson about a speech she planned to give at the Logies, if she won an award for her reporting relating to Higgins. On winning a Logie, the speech she gave, and its ability to prejudice Lerhmann’s right to a fair trial, led to proceedings being temporarily halted.</p></li>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.justice.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/2263980/ACT-Board-of-Inquiry-Criminal-Justice-System-Final-Report-31-July-2023.pdf">report</a> makes no such negative findings against the police. However, Sofronoff does state: </p>
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<p>although I think that police investigators accomplished a thorough investigation, I have found that they made some mistakes. None of these mistakes actually affected the substance of the investigation and none of them prejudiced the case. Some of them caused unnecessary pain to Ms Higgins and others.</p>
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<p>Likewise, the report finds the victims of crime commissioner acted appropriately, and her support of Higgins didn’t undermine Lehrmann’s presumption of innocence. </p>
<p>The report makes ten recommendations. Significant among these are: </p>
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<li><p>the formulation of a policy to define the “threshold to charge” and the “considerations which should inform a police officer’s application of the threshold to a given case” </p></li>
<li><p>that the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions and the ACT police review the Collaborative Agreement between the two agencies, with a view to including a complaints mechanism between the agencies</p></li>
<li><p>that the government enact legislation to codify the scope and content of the obligation of disclosure owed by the prosecution in criminal proceedings</p></li>
<li><p>update policy to provide a process for recording retrial decisions. </p></li>
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<h2>Why was the inquiry established?</h2>
<p>The inquiry was established last year after a public airing of conflict between ACT police and Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold regarding the Lehrmann case.</p>
<p>Drumgold <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/08/bruce-lehrmann-trial-brittany-higgins-dpp-director-public-prosecution-shane-drumgold-act-police">criticised</a> police attitudes as backwards in their response to Higgins, while detectives believed Drumgold was hostile towards them. </p>
<p>Lehrmann was tried on one count of sexual intercourse without consent in the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022. After all evidence had been heard, and a week into jury deliberations, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/bruce-lehrmann-trial-what-just-happened-and-what-happens-next">mistrial</a> was declared due to juror misconduct.</p>
<p>The charges against Lehrmann were subsequently dropped because of fears about the detrimental impact of a second trial on Higgins’ mental health.</p>
<p>The inquiry’s <a href="https://www.legislation.act.gov.au/View/ni/2023-232/current/html/2023-232.html">terms of reference</a> gave it a broad remit, including investigating whether police or the director of public prosecutions had breached their duties.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lehrmann-inquiry-whats-a-director-of-public-prosecutions-or-dpp-a-legal-expert-explains-206194">Lehrmann inquiry: what's a director of public prosecutions or DPP? A legal expert explains</a>
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<p>It finds Drumgold breached his duties on multiple occasions. These breaches were partly seen to be motivated by a loss of objectivity in that Drumgold was concerned to protect Higgins.</p>
<p>Drumgold maintained, for example, that his motivation for withholding the Moller report from the defence was that it would have been crushing to Higgins to the extent that it may have meant she was unable to participate in the trial. </p>
<p>Drumgold, who has now resigned, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/06/shane-drumgold-resigns-following-premature-release-of-sofronoff-inquiry-findings">rejects many of the findings</a>, maintaining: </p>
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<p>While I acknowledge I made mistakes, I strongly dispute that I engaged in deliberate or underhanded conduct in the trial or that I was dishonest </p>
<p>In my mind, the handling of the case was reflective of the chronic problem in Australia with the way our legal institutions deal with allegations of sexual violence.</p>
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<h2>Rape myths and the criminal justice system</h2>
<p>In all criminal trials, victims are witnesses rather than parties to the action. As such, they have no legal advocate in court. The prosecutor formally acts for the community, not the victim.</p>
<p>The inquiry’s terms of reference were broad enough to consider the experience of Brittany Higgins specifically. For example, there has been a steady <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/31/brittany-higgins-leaked-texts-messages-published">leak</a> of Higgins’ private communications, which weren’t part of the public trial process.</p>
<p>The inquiry heard little evidence about the source of the leaks. This is despite the likelihood that such leaks would undermine confidence in the criminal justice system and are deeply distressing to Higgins. </p>
<p>Higgins endured days of brutal cross examination, as is common in sexual assault cases. But the inquiry commented on what, to a lay person, might seem rather technical points in relation to the questioning of Senator Linda Reynolds.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.communityservices.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/1915332/CSD_SAPR_approved_WCAG_plus.pdf">2021 report</a> showed the ACT laid charges over alleged sexual assaults at a rate six times lower than the national average.</p>
<p>The inquiry heard that few in the ACT’s sexual assault and child abuse team had sexual assault training, including its most senior officer. It also heard the unit included <a href="https://citynews.com.au/2023/sexual-assault-team-a-training-ground-inquiry-told/">many junior and inexperienced members</a> because it was used as a training ground.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lehrmann-retrial-abandoned-because-of-a-significant-and-unacceptable-risk-to-brittany-higgins-life-195805">Lehrmann retrial abandoned because of 'a significant and unacceptable risk' to Brittany Higgins' life</a>
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<h2>Public confidence in the criminal justice system</h2>
<p>In setting up the inquiry, the ACT government acknowledged “the need for public confidence in the criminal justice system”. </p>
<p>Chief Police Officer for the ACT Neil Gaughan told police colleagues last week that the preemptive publication of the inquiry report would affect the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/damning-findings-against-shane-drumgold-in-lehrmann-inquiry-20230802-p5dt74.html">community’s confidence in the justice system</a>. </p>
<p>Indeed the report, and particularly the early publication of its findings in the media, have wrought further damage to the criminal justice system, brought more harm to those involved, and will most likely undermine confidence in the system.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211033/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jude McCulloch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The report makes ‘several serious findings of misconduct’ against former Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold, but also finds the prosecution was properly brought.Jude McCulloch, Emeritus Professor Monash University, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2082992023-06-22T08:45:54Z2023-06-22T08:45:54ZWord from The Hill: A wild and badly behaved parliamentary fortnight<p>As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation’s politics team.</p>
<p>In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn discuss the free-for-all between Coalition, government and Greens in the final sitting fortnight before the winter break. </p>
<p>The Coalition’s offensive on Katy Gallagher over the Higgins saga backfired when Liberal Senator David Van was accused of inappropriate behaviour and kicked out of the Liberal party room (he later quit the party). </p>
<p>The government announced an extra $2 billion for social and affordable housing, hoping to win Greens’ support for its $10 billion signature Housing Australia Future Fund. To the government’s fury, the Greens held out, leading to angry accusations between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Greens spokesman Max Chandler-Mather. </p>
<p>The politicians are now returning to their electorates, where they are likely to face plenty of talk from constituents about those rising power prices and other bills.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208299/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In this podcast Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn discuss the wild final sitting fortnight before the winter breakMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078322023-06-16T02:51:42Z2023-06-16T02:51:42ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Community Independent Dai Le on what voters are saying<p>For most voters, the cost of living is their major current concern. Rising interest rates and high prices for power, groceries and other necessities are hurting in particular lower and middle income people.</p>
<p>Nowhere is this more the case than in Sydney’s western suburbs.</p>
<p>Independent Dai Le, who holds the seat of Fowler in Sydney’s west, managed to pull off the unthinkable at last year’s federal election. Le, who financed her campaign with a very modest budget, defeated Labor’s Kristina Keneally, who was attempting to move from the Senate to the lower house.</p>
<p>Fowler has traditionally been Labor heartland. Le is the first non-Labor MP to represent the area, one of Australia’s most multicultural electorates. </p>
<p>In this podcast, Le canvasses the challenges her constituents are facing with the cost of living crisis and the aftermath of the curfew during the COVID-19 lockdowns. </p>
<p>Le has seen an uptake in her constituents reaching out to her for help. </p>
<p>“Concerns have heightened in terms of the cost of living, interest rate rises, housing affordability, grocery prices, petrol, travelling. Obviously where we are in western Sydney, people travel a lot. We use the cars a lot. It has been a real challenge for the community.” </p>
<p>One issue people haven’t been talking about is the Voice to Parliament.
“My community has not raised the issue with me, has not come to me, has not emailed me about any of the issues we’ve heard around the Voice.</p>
<p>Dai Le does not have a public stand on the Voice.</p>
<p>Culturally, Fowler is highly diverse. Le herself is Vietnamese, moving to Australia with her mother after fleeing the war. She says the community lives "very harmoniously together”, is “very cohesive”. “Of course, you have to encourage that cohesion because we are so different. There are so many different cultures in that one city.”</p>
<p>“I love this line, ‘we are one, but we are many’.” </p>
<p>In her maiden speech, she slammed the curfew placed on Western Sydney during the 2021 lockdown, likening the laws to a “communist dictatorship”.</p>
<p>“In one case, a young man got COVID and was so scared because of what he read in the media. […] He was too scared to get out of his bedroom because he didn’t want to kill his family. He thought what he’s got will kill his family. </p>
<p>"He felt so guilty he had this virus that he refused to eat and refused to drink. I knew they escaped the Khmer, the Pol Pot regime, and they were so scared about the police coming to the house because he’s got COVID.</p>
<p>"This triggered a community that had fled tyrannical and communist regimes. So that’s why I liken it. I remember hearing helicopters hovering around midnight and I was anxious, I remember telling my husband: ‘I’m not in Vietnam. Why am I feeling like this?’</p>
<p>"I then told myself, don’t be silly. You’re in Australia. We’re here. We are safe. This is just the police helicopters.”</p>
<p>In a week dominated by discussion of issues of sexual assault and harassment, there are new fears women may be dissuaded from coming forward with complaints. </p>
<p>Le says: “My message to them is that while this whole public political thing is happening, they should still have the courage to reach out to the right avenue when it happens to them and not lose faith.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In this podcast, Le canvasses the challenges her constituents are facing with the cost of living crisis and the aftermath of the curfew placed on her electorate during the COVID-19 lockdowns.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2078402023-06-15T11:41:43Z2023-06-15T11:41:43ZGrattan on Friday: Liberals come a cropper when they try to dig afresh into the Brittany Higgins story<p>Two women ended up in tears in the Senate this week, as the Higgins imbroglio exploded yet again and in the process claimed a scalp. </p>
<p>But the scalp wasn’t that of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher, who was targeted by the Liberals. </p>
<p>Instead it was one of the Liberals’ own, David Van, <a href="https://theconversation.com/peter-dutton-expels-senator-david-van-from-liberal-party-room-after-more-allegations-against-him-207826">who was banished from the Liberal party room by Peter Dutton</a>, after allegations from crossbencher Lidia Thorpe that the Victorian senator had sexually assaulted her, a claim he strongly denied.</p>
<p>The Liberals knew their pursuit of Gallagher for allegedly misleading parliament over her knowledge of the Brittany Higgins matter would carry some political risk. But they could never have imagined they’d be damaged in such a dramatic fashion, ceding one of their senators to the crossbench.</p>
<p>Federal politics, the tone of which has been better than in the last parliamentary term, once again descended into a toxic mire. </p>
<p>Van’s spectacular fall began with Thorpe (formerly with the Greens) on Wednesday shouting interjections when he was speaking about Labor’s attacks on Liberal women over the Higgins issue, and parliamentary standards. <a href="https://theconversation.com/lidia-thorpe-alleges-she-was-sexually-assaulted-by-liberal-senator-david-van-a-claim-he-brands-disgusting-207748">She alleged he’d “harassed” and “sexually assaulted” her</a>, which he immediately rejected.</p>
<p>In a broader set of allegations on Thursday, in which she didn’t specifically name Van, a tearful Thorpe said: “I experienced sexual comments, and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men. One man followed me and cornered me in a stairwell.</p>
<p>"There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault. What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched. I was afraid to walk out of the office door. I would open the door slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out,” she said. </p>
<p>“To me it was sexual assault, and the [Morrison] government at the time recognised it as such,” she said, because it immediately moved the person’s office.</p>
<p>Between late Wednesday and Thursday morning, other allegations about Van came to Dutton, with former Liberal senator Amanda Stoker confirming to him that Van had groped her. </p>
<p>Stoker later publicly recounted how “in November 2020 Senator Van inappropriately touched me at an informal social gathering in a parliamentary office. He did so by squeezing my bottom twice. By its nature and by its repetition, it was not accidental. That action was not appropriate. It was unprofessional and uninvited.” Van subsequently apologised.</p>
<p>Even if it hadn’t inadvertently blown itself up, the Coalition was always going to struggle with its attack on Gallagher. The minister, with caucus – in Anthony Albanese’s words – “1000%” behind her, could simply stare down her interrogators, although that meant enduring a good deal of heat. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/word-from-the-hill-coalition-attacks-on-katy-gallagher-voice-losing-traction-future-fund-holdout-207739">Word from The Hill: Coalition attacks on Katy Gallagher, Voice losing traction, future fund holdout</a>
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<p>Gallagher’s 2021 claim, at a Senate estimates hearing, that she had no prior knowledge of Higgins’ allegation she was raped, was wrong, and therefore misled parliament.</p>
<p>Indeed, Gallagher had admitted privately to Liberal then-minister Linda Reynolds on that same night that she had some prior knowledge. This week she refused to be drawn on details of her interactions around receiving this information, leaving the opposition empty-handed. She did say – a crucial point – <a href="https://theconversation.com/katy-gallagher-says-she-didnt-alert-albanese-or-wong-to-the-pending-brittany-higgins-interview-207627">that she hadn’t passed on the information</a>, obtained from Higgins and her partner David Sharaz, to Albanese or Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong. </p>
<p>Labor has been able to deploy effectively the argument that by revisiting the Higgins issue the Liberals will discourage women coming forward with allegations they have been assaulted. Albanese said: “My concern here is that we know that about 13% of sexual assault victims actually take action, go forward to police. And I’m worried that the focus that is going on at the moment will have a triggering effect and will deter people from coming forward.”</p>
<p>The debate also turned to the ethics of the disclosure of previously private communications, most notably the leaked text messages between Sharaz and Higgins. </p>
<p>This disclosure – involving court material – was widely condemned, and the Liberals struggled to win their argument that however the material became public, they were perfectly justified in dealing with the content. The opposition maintained it was pursuing accountability, but that was blurred by the counter argument about Higgins’ right of privacy.</p>
<p>The latest round of the Higgins issue has also been entangled in what we can call the media wars. The disclosure of the texts and other material has been spearheaded by The Australian, which has given massive coverage to changing the narrative of the Higgins story, in a direction that is less favourable to her. Some other sections of the media were not keen to follow up The Australian’s stories. </p>
<p>While Gallagher’s survival was always guaranteed, the attacks have taken their toll. By Thursday she was teary, lamenting that the work done on having women treated better and encouraging them to come forward when something happened to them had been set back.</p>
<p>She also conceded: “I am sorry Senator Reynolds is clearly upset about what happened to her. I am sorry about that. And I told her that.</p>
<p>"But I am also very sorry for Brittany Higgins, I’m sorry documents about her personal life have been leaked, I’m sorry a confidential draft claim for compensation [for Higgins] found its way onto the front pages of a national newspaper.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-brittany-higgins-story-continues-its-damaging-trail-with-no-end-in-sight-207500">View from The Hill: Brittany Higgins story continues its damaging trail, with no end in sight</a>
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<p>The Higgins story has a cast of women. Not just the young woman, a former Liberal staffer, who made the rape allegation. Women were on the front line of the political battle around that story: in 2021 then-ministers Reynolds and Michaelia Cash and Labor spear carriers Wong, Gallagher and then-senator Kristina Keneally.</p>
<p>In the media, women broke the story: Sam Maiden (News Corp) and Lisa Wilkinson (Ten). Janet Albrechtsen (The Australian) has led the counter-narrative. </p>
<p>The separate events that took centre stage this week regarding Gallagher and Van all happened some years ago. In the wake of the damning 2021 Jenkins report on behaviour in parliament house, that workplace has seen reforms, with new independent processes for providing support and handling complaints. People report conduct has improved.</p>
<p>Regardless of this, many members of the public, hearing the news reports of this week, will conclude little has changed. And some voters might think politicians should be talking less about their workplace and more about the issues confronting those in the world outside. </p>
<p>FRIDAY UPDATE: DUTTON SAYS VAN SHOULD QUIT PARLIAMENT </p>
<p>Peter Dutton has said that it would be “in everyone’s best interests” if Van resigned from parliament. “And I hope he’s able to do that sooner than later.” The opposition leader also revealed he was aware of another allegation against Van.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207840/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Federal politics, the tone of which had seemed better than in the last parliamentary term, once again descended into a toxic mire.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2077482023-06-14T10:31:48Z2023-06-14T10:31:48ZLidia Thorpe alleges she was ‘sexually assaulted’ by Liberal senator David Van – a claim he brands ‘disgusting’<p>Crossbench senator Lidia Thorpe has accused Victorian Liberal senator David Van of sexually assaulting her – a claim he immediately branded disgusting and untrue. </p>
<p>Government sources on Wednesday night said Thorpe’s claim was serious and should be “referred appropriately”, offering support to her.</p>
<p>Thorpe’s allegation, under parliamentary privilege, came in a week when the opposition is targeting Finance Minister Katy Gallagher for allegedly misleading parliament in 2021 over her prior knowledge of the Brittany Higgins TV interview.</p>
<p>Van, speaking in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon, was criticising Labor for attacking Liberal women involved in the Higgins matter, saying parliamentarians should be setting standards, when Thorpe began interjecting, calling out “perpetrator”, and rejecting attempts from the chair to silence her. </p>
<p>“I can’t believe they put you up to make this speech,” she said. </p>
<p>“You can talk”, she said. “You know what you were doing around this time don’t you Van? You got away with a lot.”</p>
<p>She said she was “feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence.”</p>
<p>Asked by Deputy Senate President Andrew McLachlan to withdraw, she said, “I can’t because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me and the [then] prime minister had to remove him from his office. </p>
<p>"To have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace on the whole party,” she said.</p>
<p>McLachlan said he would refer the matter to Senate president Sue Lines.</p>
<p>After Thorpe’s outburst, Van immediately retorted, “I utterly reject that disgusting statement outright. It is just a lie and I reject it.” </p>
<p>He added, “I withdraw the word lie. It is just not true.” (“Lie” is unparliamentary language.)</p>
<p>Van repeated his denial in a statement outside parliament, saying: “In the Chamber today Senator Thorpe made unfounded and completely untrue allegations against me that I immediately and unequivocally denied and continue to deny. These outrageous and reprehensible comments were made by Senator Thorpe using parliamentary privilege in the most malicious and despicable way. My lawyers have written to her already making my position clear in the strongest possible terms.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/14/liberal-senator-david-van-rejects-lidia-thorpe-accusation-in-parliament-he-sexually-assaulted-her">The Guardian reported a spokesman for former prime minister Scott Morrison saying</a>, “Mr Morrison has no recollection of Lidia Thorpe ever making such an allegation to him personally or of any involvement in Senator Van moving offices.”</p>
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<p><strong>UPDATE: Thorpe withdraws</strong></p>
<p>On Wednesday night, Senator Thorpe withdrew her comments, in line with a request from the Senate President, saying she wanted to comply with Senate rules. She promised to make a statement on Thursday. </p>
<p>She told the Senate: “Earlier today I made some comments in relation to another senator. In order to comply with parliamentary standing orders, I withdraw those remarks. For the information of the Senate, I will make a further statement on the matter tomorrow.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Thorpe made the claim while Van was attacking Labor for politicising the Brittany Higgins allegation that she was raped in the office of then minister Linda Reynolds in 2019Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2076272023-06-13T08:12:11Z2023-06-13T08:12:11ZKaty Gallagher says she didn’t alert Albanese or Wong to the pending Brittany Higgins’ interview<p>Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has categorically denied misleading the Senate over her prior knowledge of the Brittany Higgins interview, but refused to be drawn on what discussion she might have had with Higgins or her partner David Sharaz at the time. </p>
<p>Gallagher has, however, said she did not communicate anything about the interview, which was to be aired on The Project, to Anthony Albanese, Labor Senate leader Penny Wong, their staffs, or her own staff. </p>
<p>“I was provided with information in the days before the allegations were first reported, and I did nothing with that information,” she said in a statement to the Senate. “Absolutely nothing. I was asked to keep it to myself, and I did.”</p>
<p>Later, under concerted opposition interrogation, she declined – on the grounds of confidentiality – to say whether she had been supplied with the yet-to-be broadcast Project interview, as has been reported. She also warded off questioning about whether she had given feedback. </p>
<p>In a Senate estimates committee hearing in 2021, Gallagher said she’d had no knowledge. She was replying to Liberal then-minister Linda Reynolds’ claim a Labor senator had warned her two weeks before Higgins made public her rape allegation of the then-opposition’s plan to use an incident in her office politically. </p>
<p>Higgins alleged she was raped in Reynolds’ office in 2019 by fellow staffer Bruce Lehrmann, which he denied. (Lehrmann was not named in The Project interview.)</p>
<p>Gallagher said in her statement: “I was shocked at the assertion made by Senator Reynolds with the clear implication that I was responsible or had some involvement with making that story public. </p>
<p>"That was not true. It was never true, and I responded to that allegation by saying no one had any knowledge.” </p>
<p>She said she explained to Reynolds the same night that she’d been given “a heads up about the allegations in the days before they became public, an explanation she accepted at the time”. </p>
<p>Gallagher also said she’d had no role in the payout the Commonwealth has made to Higgins. </p>
<p>Earlier, at the Labor caucus meeting, Anthony Albanese declared the caucus was “1000%” behind her. </p>
<p>Albanese heaped praise on Gallagher, who is also Minister for Women, telling her “we thank you, we honour you, we’re with you”. </p>
<p>He told caucus that “no government has done more to put women at the centre of policy making than what has happened under Katy Gallagher”.</p>
<p>He described her as “a person of extraordinary integrity”, saying the attack on her was unfair, unjustified, and unscrupulous. No backward step would be taken, he said. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-brittany-higgins-story-continues-its-damaging-trail-with-no-end-in-sight-207500">View from The Hill: Brittany Higgins story continues its damaging trail, with no end in sight</a>
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<p>Opposition leader Peter Dutton told the Coalition party meeting it was “an open and shut case” that Gallagher had misled the Senate.</p>
<p>“It is increasingly clear that a group of Labor operatives conspired to maximise the damage. It was absolutely brazen. Labor used an alleged rape victim for political purposes.”</p>
<p>He said it was entirely appropriate for the opposition to put pressure on Labor to answer the questions.</p>
<p>Labor is attacking the Coalition for taking up this issue, arguing this will deter young women coming forward when they have been sexually assaulted. Albanese said “the real tragedy is the impact this will have on any woman contemplating coming forward”.</p>
<p>Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus condemned the leaking of private court material, which has appeared widely in the media. </p>
<p>Answering a question from crossbencher Zali Steggall he said “I am deeply concerned about the apparent unauthorised publication of material produced as a result of a subpoena in the criminal trial of Mr Bruce Lehrmann.</p>
<p>"Material produced to a court in response to a subpoena is subject to an implied undertaking from the parties who receive it, that it won’t be used for purposes other than for those court proceedings.” </p>
<p>He said the police were examining a complaint about this. The Ten Network has taken the leak to the police. </p>
<p>Steggall said in a statement: “The media should not have a leave pass on people’s right to privacy. </p>
<p>"Media publication of leaked private material produced for a police investigation undermines trust and confidence in the criminal justice system for victims. This is not in the public interest.”</p>
<p>Reynolds on Tuesday began legal action against the Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, alleging Plibersek had defamed her in comments this week about her handling of the Higgins matter.</p>
<p>Meanwhile former prime minister Scott Morrison told parliament he and Fiona Brown, a staffer in then-minister Reynolds office who dealt with the Higgins case, had different recollections about whether they had spoken about the matter. </p>
<p>Morrison had told the House in 2021 that he had spoken with Brown, who by then was working in his office, <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/fiona-brown-on-the-brittany-higginsbruce-lehrman-saga-i-was-shot-by-the-metoo-firing-squad/news-story/c3587711aea8e1b2af777e6b3b8ee293">but Brown told the Weekend Australian</a> that he had not. </p>
<p>In a Tuesday statement, Morrison said: “While I believed my response to be accurate at the time, I cannot, obviously, fully discount that her recollection of those events now is the more accurate. However, I reject absolutely any suggestion of deliberate intent in any such possible inaccuracy in my response.”</p>
<p>Morrison at the weekend spoke to Brown – who had said in the interview that she had felt unsupported by Morrison and his office. </p>
<p>He told parliament, “It was and remains my strong view that Ms Brown did all she could to provide support to Ms Higgins at that time.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207627/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Anthony Albanese declared the caucus was 1000% behind Katy Gallagher, as the Finance Minister fights off allegations of misleading parliament while in opposition in 2021Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2075002023-06-12T09:14:38Z2023-06-12T09:14:38ZView from The Hill: Brittany Higgins story continues its damaging trail, with no end in sight<p>The Brittany Higgins saga has damaged almost everyone it has touched, or who’s touched it. </p>
<p>It will forever haunt Higgins, who alleged she was raped in 2019 in a minister’s office, and Bruce Lehrmann, who denied committing the alleged assault. An aborted trial has meant there is no legal judgement.</p>
<p>It helped destroy Scott Morrison. It deeply scarred Linda Reynolds, the minister in question, and had an impact on Fiona Brown, Reynolds’ staffer at the time who dealt with the matter. </p>
<p>In fresh rounds of this story that never goes away, more people are being dragged down, to greater or lesser degrees: the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, police, some in the media. Now, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is in the political frame. </p>
<p>After The Australian’s recent publication of texts between Higgins and her partner David Sharaz, exchanged in the run-up to the airing of Higgins’ 2021 interview with Ten’s Lisa Wilkinson, Gallagher faces allegations of misleading parliament. </p>
<p>In a testy exchange with Reynolds at a Senate estimates committee in 2021, Gallagher insisted she’d had no knowledge before the story broke. </p>
<p>Reynolds had claimed she’d been told by a Labor senator (who was the late Kimberley Kitching) “two weeks before about what you were intending to do with the story in my office”.</p>
<p>At the hearing Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong immediately declared she’d had no knowledge, while Gallagher said categorically, “No one had any knowledge,” adding angrily, “how dare you!” </p>
<p>Reynolds subsequently said Gallagher and Wong later that day told her they’d had some prior indication but had nothing to do with the matter going public.</p>
<p>In the text exchange Sharaz, anxious to ensure the story would become an issue politically, flagged he’d shared information with Gallagher, whom he knew. He believed she would be useful in pursuing the matter when the Wilkinson interview was broadcast. </p>
<p>Gallagher at the weekend admitted she was told “there was going to be some public reporting that a young woman [was] making serious allegations about events that had occurred in a minister’s office”. Wong also qualified her position, saying she didn’t know “full details of the allegations before the story became public”. </p>
<p>The opposition is calling for Gallagher’s resignation or sacking, but that won’t be happening. </p>
<p>While her statement to the committee was misleading, Gallagher was not a minister. Indeed, even ministers do not fall on their sword these days for what was once considered the serious sin of misleading parliament. (In the 1980s, Hawke government minister John Brown did so, in the wake of an answer he gave to an opposition question.) </p>
<p>Precisely what Labor knew before the story broke remains unclear, as does precisely who in Labor knew about it. The Kitching leak indicated the senior Labor women in the Senate were aware – did they pass anything on? </p>
<p>But there was nothing improper about Gallagher receiving information – oppositions get alerts all the time. The issue was her denial at the Senate committee. </p>
<p>Labor will stare down the opposition’s attacks. It can counter by saying returning to the issue brings fresh trauma for Higgins, and the private text messages should never have been leaked (where they came from is unknown).</p>
<p>If it chooses, Labor can raise Brown’s weekend claims that, when the heat was on her over her handling of the Higgins matter, she received little support from Scott Morrison and his office (to which she’d returned by the time the story broke). Her weekend interview with The Australian carried the implication Morrison may have misled parliament when he told the House of Representatives he’d spoken with her about the matter (Brown said he hadn’t). </p>
<p>There’s unlikely to be much mileage for the opposition in the pursuit of Gallagher – although that’s not to say she doesn’t have questions to answer.</p>
<p>As Anthony Albanese has pointed out, the issue was about the former government, not the then opposition. For the Liberals to revisit it is to hark back to the Morrison days – bad territory for the Coalition.</p>
<p>Moreover, people have entrenched views about the Higgins matter and few opinions will shift. </p>
<p>Anyway, the public are now preoccupied with a range of bread-and-butter issues. They’re unlikely to focus on, or care about, the ins-and-outs of who in Labor knew what when.</p>
<p>But Reynolds cares a lot. All along she felt wrongly targeted, believing she behaved properly. Most recently, she was angered when not allowed into the mediation that saw Higgins receive a large sum of Commonwealth money. She wanted to mount her defence against the claims made about her and her office.</p>
<p>Reynolds intends to refer this payout to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, which commences operating on July 1. </p>
<p>Regardless of that, in the name of transparency, the government should provide the details of the payment. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, there’s a lot still to come in this story, even apart from what happens in defamation actions Lehrmann has launched. On the basis of the evidence we heard, the ACT inquiry into the conduct of criminal justice agencies in the case could be set to deliver a hefty load of brickbats in its report, due at the end of next month.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In fresh rounds of this story that never goes away, now Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is in the political frame facing allegations of misleading parliamentMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2061942023-05-25T20:01:20Z2023-05-25T20:01:20ZLehrmann inquiry: what’s a director of public prosecutions or DPP? A legal expert explains<p>Australian public prosecutors are far less visible than defence lawyers, judges and police, yet they are the most powerful actors in the criminal justice system.</p>
<p>Every Australian state and territory, and the Commonwealth itself, has a Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). Their main role is to initiate and conduct prosecutions of serious crimes in the superior courts.</p>
<p>If police charge a suspect for a serious crime, they prepare a brief of evidence and provide it to the office of the DPP. The office of the DPP then assesses whether the charge is appropriate. For example, it may reduce an attempted murder charge to intentionally causing serious harm.</p>
<p>The DPP also has to decide whether to actually prosecute the offence. The main consideration is whether there is evidence from witnesses and the crime scene that can prove the offence. If there’s insufficient evidence, the DPP shouldn’t prosecute.</p>
<p>If the prosecutor decides not to prosecute a serious crime, there’s no role for defence lawyers and judges, the police investigation is of no consequence, and the suspect is free.</p>
<p>If the prosecutor decides to prosecute a serious crime, the lives of the defendant and the victim are changed forever.</p>
<p>The aborted <a href="https://courts.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/2023309/Lehrmann-No-3.pdf">trial of Bruce Lehrmann</a> for an alleged rape in Parliament House in 2019 has raised multiple problems with the prosecution of rape allegations that need to be addressed (Lehrmann has maintained his innocence, and no findings have been made against him).</p>
<p>The resulting <a href="https://www.cjsinquiry.act.gov.au/#:%7E:text=The%20Board%20of%20Inquiry%20was,the%20rights%20of%20those%20involved.">inquiry</a>, which is ongoing, has shone a light on the role of the DPP. </p>
<p>The DPP of the ACT, Shane Drumgold, was cross-examined for a week over his handling of Lehrmann’s prosecution. Drumgold expressed concerns with the conduct of police before and after the aborted trial, and even levelled explosive allegations that he thought the case may have been subject to improper political influence. He later <a href="https://www.cjsinquiry.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/2222270/Day-04-ACT-Board-of-Inquiry-11-May-2023.pdf">walked this back</a>, and instead claimed his concerns with the police were most likely due to “a skills deficit”.</p>
<p>This week, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller alleged Drumgold <a href="https://www.cjsinquiry.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/2227969/Day-09-ACT-Board-of-Inquiry-23-May-2023.pdf">had</a> “lost objectivity” in the case. Moller said police “were concerned for the presumption of innocence. They were worried about putting Mr Lehrmann before the court when they didn’t believe there was enough evidence.”</p>
<p>Disagreements between police and DPPs are not unusual and are not necessarily a problem. Reasonable minds often differ on prosecutorial decisions, and disagreement can be a healthy “check and balance” within the system.</p>
<p>However, the tension highlights broader issues within the DPP system. </p>
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<h2>What is a DPP?</h2>
<p>Australian DPPs are independent, non-political statutory officers.</p>
<p>They differ from <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao">District Attorneys</a> in the United States.</p>
<p>In the US, District Attorneys are elected by the people, and it’s common to see television adverts and posters of candidates <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6femI_-Vg0">spruiking their conviction rates</a> and, in some states, their execution rates. They sell their worth to voters by showing themselves to be “tough on crime” and on the people who commit crime.</p>
<p>Australian DPPs are ministers of justice, appointed by the governor, to prosecute crimes fairly, frankly, and without <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/frank-and-fearless/">fear or favour</a>. </p>
<p>They are prosecutors, not persecutors. They work for the good of the whole community, in the interests of justice. They do not represent the police, the government, complainants or victims of crime.</p>
<p>They should only prosecute a case if it’s in the public interest and there’s <a href="https://www.dpp.sa.gov.au/documents/DPP-Prosecution-and-Policy-Guidelines.pdf">a reasonable prospect of a conviction</a>. </p>
<p>The popularity of the decision with the public or the government isn’t relevant to whether a prosecution goes ahead. </p>
<p>DPPs generally keep a low public profile – public touting of conviction rates is not acceptable. They explain controversial or complex decisions to the public through their websites, <a href="https://www.odpp.nsw.gov.au/odpp-annual-report-2021-2022">annual reports</a> and <a href="https://www.cdpp.gov.au/about-us/media">media releases</a>.</p>
<p>The outcome of any trial must be fair and just, and not simply a “notch in the belt” of a prosecutor.</p>
<h2>Political dilemma</h2>
<p>Prosecutions have not always been non-political in Australia, and in some ways they are still not. Until the 1980s and ‘90s, the attorney-general was responsible for prosecutions – but in their capacity as First Law Officer of the Crown, not as an elected party politician.</p>
<p>An increasingly cynical public had trouble accepting that an attorney-general could really make decisions about prosecutions without being influenced by the political consequences for themselves, their party or their government. </p>
<p>The independent, statutory offices of DPP were established so prosecutorial decisions were made at “arm’s length” from politics, and only matters of law and evidence determined whether a prosecution went ahead or was discontinued.</p>
<p>However, there was a dilemma.</p>
<p>Political involvement in criminal prosecutions is not all bad. Having elected representatives involved in prosecutions means that public views and community concerns about cases and trends are heard and considered.</p>
<p>So there’s a balancing issue: how to make sure prosecutorial decisions are not so political that they are made in the short-term interests of governments, but political enough that they reflect community standards.</p>
<p>To put the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Evolving-Role-of-the-Public-Prosecutor-Challenges-and-Innovations/Colvin-Stenning/p/book/9780367509378">dilemma</a> in legal terms, how do we achieve independence, accountability and the public interest in prosecutorial decisions?</p>
<h2>An odd compromise</h2>
<p>The question is answered in Australia by way of a rather odd compromise.</p>
<p>The DPP makes prosecutorial decisions in a statutory office independent of politics, but the DPP is appointed by the governor, who is advised by the government. DPPs are appointed for <a href="https://www.legislation.sa.gov.au/__legislation/lz/c/a/director%20of%20public%20prosecutions%20act%201991/current/1991.49.auth.pdf">limited terms</a> (unlike judges who are appointed until retirement), so if they displease the government, they may not be reappointed.</p>
<p>Also, the DPP is overseen by the attorney-general. The attorney-general’s powers differ across the country, but some can direct the DPP to take certain actions or step in and take actions with which the DPP disagrees. These decisions are not made in court, so are not necessarily transparent and they may be politically motivated.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lehrmann-retrial-abandoned-because-of-a-significant-and-unacceptable-risk-to-brittany-higgins-life-195805">Lehrmann retrial abandoned because of 'a significant and unacceptable risk' to Brittany Higgins' life</a>
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<p>The decision to prosecute or not raises big political and philosophical questions. But most importantly, it directly affects peoples’ lives in profound and lasting ways.</p>
<p>A person prosecuted for rape or murder may face extreme stigma, even if they are not found guilty.</p>
<p>A victim who reports a serious crime that is not prosecuted may be retraumatised and their faith in the criminal justice system shattered. </p>
<p>The question of who decides whether or not to prosecute is fundamental to our community and democracy. At the moment, our system has not really resolved the question of how much politics we want in prosecutions, if we want any at all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206194/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kellie Toole is a member of the Australian Labor Party</span></em></p>The decision to prosecute or not raises big political and philosophical questions. But most importantly, it directly affects peoples’ lives in profound and lasting ways.Kellie Toole, Lecturer in Law, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046832023-05-01T06:35:44Z2023-05-01T06:35:44ZWhy was Bruce Lehrmann given the all-clear to sue media for defamation? A media law expert explains<p>Former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann has been given the all-clear to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-28/bruce-lehrmann-allowed-to-sue-journalists-media-outlets/102269362">continue with defamation proceedings</a> against several media outlets and journalists regarding reporting about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations.</p>
<p>Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence, and no finding has been made against him. The rape trial was abandoned last year following juror misconduct, and a second trial was not pursued amid fears for Higgins’ mental health.</p>
<p>Lehrmann is suing the Ten Network and former presenter of The Project Lisa Wilkinson, as well as News Life Media (the publisher of news.com.au) and journalist Samantha Maiden.</p>
<p>In New South Wales since 2002, and across Australia since the beginning of 2006, the limitation period for defamation claims is one year. However, the court has the power to extend the limitation period for up to three years.</p>
<p>Lehrmann needed the court to extend the limitation period because both Maiden’s story on news.com.au, and Wilkinson’s interview with Higgins on The Project, took place in mid-February 2021. Lehrmann commenced his defamation proceedings in the Federal Court almost two years later.</p>
<p>On Friday, Justice Michael Lee of the Federal Court of Australia extended the limitation period in these two defamation proceedings brought by Lehrmann.</p>
<p>As Justice Lee observed at the outset of his judgement:</p>
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<p>Any sentient person with an interest in newsworthy events in Australia would be familiar with the general background to the present disputes.</p>
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<p>To have the limitation period extended, Lehrmann needed to persuade the court that it was “not reasonable in the circumstances” for him to have commenced his proceedings within the one-year limitation period.</p>
<p>If the court was persuaded, it would be required to extend the limitation period, although it had discretion as to the length of the extension.</p>
<p>Justice Lee was satisfied that it was “not reasonable in the circumstances” for Lehrmann to have commenced defamation proceedings within the one-year limitation period.</p>
<p>This was mainly because it was not reasonable to commence defamation proceedings while criminal allegations were unresolved. This was the legal advice Lehrmann received from the solicitor with criminal law expertise he consulted.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-lehrmann-trial-aborted-and-what-happens-next-193382">Why was the Lehrmann trial aborted and what happens next?</a>
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<p>As Justice Lee stated:</p>
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<p>Whatever way one looks at it, for Mr Lehrmann to have started defamation proceedings absent the resolution of the criminal allegations would have been for him to take a step into the unknown. Everything might well have worked out, and all respondents may have been passive, but one cannot discount as misconceived advice that taking the risk of starting was imprudent and distracting while criminal allegations were unresolved.</p>
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<p>Justice Lee’s decision followed a decision of the Full Federal Court in Joukhador v Ten Network Pty Ltd in 2021.</p>
<p>In that case, the court stated that, in general, where a person is facing a criminal charge and the publication being sued upon raises an issue about the person’s guilt or innocence, it will ordinarily not be reasonable to commence defamation proceedings within the one-year limitation period.</p>
<p>Justice Lee therefore extended the limitation period in both of the proceedings.</p>
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<p>In April this year, Lehrmann also commenced defamation proceedings against the ABC. This concerned the broadcast of the National Press Club address by Higgins and Grace Tame in February 2022.</p>
<p>Justice Lee indicated that he was inclined to hear all three proceedings together.</p>
<p>Justice Lee also raised the prospect that the case may be an appropriate one for trial by jury. This is significant because civil trials in the Federal Court are presumptively heard by a judge sitting alone. However, the court has the power to order trial by jury if “the ends of justice appear to render it expedient to do so”.</p>
<p>The Federal Court has only ordered a jury trial in civil proceedings <a href="https://abcalumni.net/2021/05/29/whos-to-judge/">once before</a>. In 2009, Justice Rares ordered a jury trial in defamation proceedings brought against The Daily Telegraph for reporting about sexual servitude allegations (the matter then settled before the trial).</p>
<p>Justice Lee sought submissions from the parties as to whether there should be a jury trial in this case. Jury trials tend to take longer and are therefore costlier than trials by judge alone.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-juries-still-deliver-justice-in-high-profile-cases-in-the-age-of-social-media-193843">Can juries still deliver justice in high-profile cases in the age of social media?</a>
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<p>If a defamation case is brought in a State Supreme Court (other than in South Australia), either party can elect to have trial by jury. Juries are not available in defamation cases in the territories.</p>
<p>The possible trial date is mid-November this year, lasting for approximately four weeks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Rolph previously received funding from the Australian Research Council that ended in 2014.</span></em></p>The trial is likely to go ahead in November this year, and last for around four weeks.David Rolph, Professor of Law, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2007382023-04-18T05:50:41Z2023-04-18T05:50:41ZWhy is there an inquiry into the Bruce Lehrmann trial? Legal experts explain<p>There’s yet another twist in the Bruce Lehrmann saga. On Monday, opening statements were delivered in an inquiry into the prosecution of Lehrmann over the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins.</p>
<p>Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence, pleading not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent.</p>
<p>The inquiry will investigate the handling of the case by Australian Capital Territory authorities. It will start hearing evidence on May 1.</p>
<p>The first trial was <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-lehrmann-trial-aborted-and-what-happens-next-193382">abandoned</a> by the judge in October 2022 due to juror misconduct. A second trial did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.</p>
<p>This investigation is separate to the <a href="https://www.lawyersweekly.com.au/wig-chamber/36818-lehrmann-defamation-case-may-be-seen-as-de-facto-criminal-proceeding">ongoing defamation cases</a> Lehrmann is pursuing against a range of media outlets.</p>
<p>Also on Monday, trial judge and ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum <a href="https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/orders-prohibiting-publication-of-brittany-higgins-trial-secrets-outlined/news-story/2e6f6cc82b59530c8c6fb061ca1599c7">announced</a> she would be maintaining a suppression order that keeps secret some elements of the case involving Higgins. McCallum said “I have no doubt that any further exacerbation of the level of media attention directed to her carries a risk to her life”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lehrmann-retrial-abandoned-because-of-a-significant-and-unacceptable-risk-to-brittany-higgins-life-195805">Lehrmann retrial abandoned because of 'a significant and unacceptable risk' to Brittany Higgins' life</a>
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<h2>‘Inappropriate interference’</h2>
<p>It’s been revealed that in November 2022, the ACT director of public prosecutions (DPP), Shane Drumgold, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/08/bruce-lehrmann-trial-brittany-higgins-dpp-director-public-prosecution-shane-drumgold-act-police">raised concerns</a> about the conduct of police and their interference in his handling of the prosecution.</p>
<p>The Office of the DPP is an independent statutory authority created by parliament. It prosecutes criminal cases in the ACT, operating free from government influence. That is, free from the parliament and the executive, which includes police ministers and police commissioners.</p>
<p>In other words, the DPP is to remain above politics, and stick entirely to principles of law, and agreed prosecutorial guidelines.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1585497761771823104"}"></div></p>
<p>The letter emerged following a freedom of information request from The Guardian. In it, Drumgold <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/dec/08/bruce-lehrmann-trial-brittany-higgins-dpp-director-public-prosecution-shane-drumgold-act-police">alleged</a> there had been “inappropriate interference” by police in the case, namely that he had been pressured not to continue the prosecution.</p>
<p>The inquiry will investigate Drumgold’s allegations. It will try to determine whether any matters extraneous to the trial, and the attempted retrial, interfered with the fairness of the process, or disrespected the rights of those involved.</p>
<p>Former Queensland solicitor-general Walter Sofronoff has been appointed to head the inquiry. He said he will report back to the government by the end of June.</p>
<h2>The task ahead</h2>
<p>Sofronoff has quite the task ahead of him. Into this mix come a number of players, themes and factual disagreements.</p>
<p>For starters, there is the essential pillar of prosecution independence that prevents the government of the day (and their police) deciding who is to be prosecuted and under what circumstances. Section 20 of the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1990 (ACT) allows the Attorney-General to “give directions or furnish guidelines” to the DPP, but these are to be “of a general nature and shall not refer to a particular case”. The decision as to whether to proceed with a prosecution remains with the DPP.</p>
<p>The prosecution policy of the ACT will also come under scrutiny. That is, the discretionary guidelines given to the DPP by legislation in relation to their choice to prosecute.</p>
<p>The role of Victims of Crime Commissioner Heidi Yates in the entire episode is likely to be <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-17/board-of-inquiry-into-bruce-lehrmann-trial-hears-beset-tension/102230938">examined</a>. The role of this commissioner is to act as a victim advocate, and Yates was a prominent supporter of Higgins, appearing at numerous court hearings <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8067594/respected-former-judge-to-lead-parliament-house-rape-case-inquiry/">alongside her</a>.</p>
<p>More than one politician was drawn into the matter, albeit with marked reluctance. Media celebrities weighed in. Criminologists pointed to the very low rate of guilty verdicts in prosecutions alleging sexual improprieties.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/can-juries-still-deliver-justice-in-high-profile-cases-in-the-age-of-social-media-193843">Can juries still deliver justice in high-profile cases in the age of social media?</a>
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<p>All of these players may fall under the scrutiny of Sofronoff as he tries to determine what influence may have been exerted by these diverse factors in the interactions between the police and the DPP.</p>
<p>Sofronoff is likely to want to know more about the fact that police <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/brittany-higgins-sensitive-evidence-disclosed-to-lehrmanns-legal-team-by-police/news-story/a7bf8118ad765031520444cfa0586954">disclosed a brief of evidence</a> to Lehrmann’s defence lawyers, which included sensitive information such as Higgins’ counselling notes. This occurred before Lehrmann had entered a plea.</p>
<p>He may wish to examine the appropriateness of an apparent close engagement during the trial between the investigating officers and Lehrmann’s legal team. Sofronoff will be assisted by his reference to more than <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8160741/lehrmann-trial-inquiry-hears-of-justice-system-tensions/">140,000 pages of documentation</a>.</p>
<p>Rarely has there been such an “after the event” examination of the way a prosecution has been conducted. In many respects, the trial is being heard all over again.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200738/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre is affiliated with the SA Labor Party, and is a Patron of the Justice Reform Initiative. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Livings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The inquiry will investigate the handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations by ACT authorities.Ben Livings, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence, University of South AustraliaRick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1924952022-12-02T02:35:20Z2022-12-02T02:35:20ZLehrmann trial discontinued: when prosecution isn’t in the public interest<p>ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shane Drumgold today <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/prosecutors-drop-bid-for-lehrmann-retrial-20221202-p5c353.html">announced</a> that the charges against Bruce Lehrmann, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019, have been withdrawn. </p>
<p>An earlier jury had been dismissed resulting in a mistrial, after an academic research paper relating to sexual assault was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/jury-discharged-in-bruce-lehrmann-case-after-material-entered-jury-room-that-ought-not-to-have">found in the jury room</a>. Jurors are forbidden from doing their own research, as each case must be decided only on the evidence presented in court. A retrial had been ordered by the court to begin in February. </p>
<h2>Decisions to prosecute</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.dpp.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/715506/Prosecution-Policy-2021.pdf">two tests</a> the DPP must consider in determining whether or not to prosecute a case.</p>
<p>First, based on the evidence, are there reasonable prospects of conviction? In the Lehrmann case, the DPP has determined - and maintains - there are reasonable prospects for a conviction for the charge of sexual intercourse without consent - an offence other states call rape. </p>
<p>If this first test is met, the DPP must then determine whether proceeding with prosecution is in the public interest. It is this second test the DPP referred to when announcing the decision not to proceed with the retrial. </p>
<p>This “public interest test” is complex, and there are countless factors to be considered in making a determination. It is, for example, certainly in the public interest to pursue sexual offences, given the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/2016">prevalence of sexual violence</a> in the community. </p>
<p>However, this cannot be the only basis on which the decision is made. The DPP specifically referred to a section of the <a href="https://www.dpp.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/715506/Prosecution-Policy-2021.pdf">ACT Prosecution Policy</a> (which outlines these tests) that states consideration should be given to “the actual or potential harm occasioned to any person as a result of the alleged offence”. He continued that this required him to consider the harm that could be caused to a survivor in pursuing prosecution. </p>
<p>Speaking specifically about Brittany Higgins, he said he had received independent evidence from two medical professionals, which made it clear the “ongoing trauma associated with this prosecution presents a significant and unacceptable risk to the life of the complainant”. </p>
<p>The risk to Higgins’ life means prosecution is not in the public interest.</p>
<h2>Courtroom trauma</h2>
<p>This decision would not have been made lightly, and almost certainly, would have been made in consultation with Higgins. Her friend released a statement on her behalf calling the last few years “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/mental-health/brittany-higgins-confirms-shes-receiving-mental-health-treatment-in-queensland-hospital/news-story/4270eeb96ff0c836aa6fac6d999061be">difficult and unrelenting</a>”. Higgins is seeking mental health treatment in hospital. </p>
<p>Today’s decision brings into public view the effect on complainants of reporting and pursuing sexual violence cases. The justice system caused more harm to a person who was reporting a crime within their rights. </p>
<p>During the first trial, the defence consistently shifted focus away from the actions of the accused, onto those of Higgins - a typical tactic in rape trials. The prosecution, for its part, encouraged the jury to centre its attention on Lehrmann – on the inconsistencies in his own statements and whether he was reckless to the issue of consent.</p>
<p>This is not new. <a href="https://research-repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/99362/KaladelfosPUB1351.pdf?sequence=1">Decades of research</a> confirms victim-survivors experience the justice system as retraumatising. This is, at least in part, because of the role rape myths play in criminal rape trials. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10383441.2013.10854783?casa_token=1b_Puf03OVYAAAAA:sNQCXt7jDz39TZYMrenu4SCvw-PoM6fQNRJMRPDNx-imxCzzD_YdNLkK45noBwFDVA1PLbV4lVw">Rape myths</a> refer to widely held, hard-to-change and incorrect views about rape, survivors, and those who commit the crime. They inform society’s response to sexual violence – including that of the criminal justice system. </p>
<p>Victim-survivors are asked about what they did to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bjc/article/59/2/296/5127722">resist</a> an assault, whether they <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1748895819880953?casa_token=1NzSAhN_4WkAAAAA%3Ap9QPRAjR2cTQMijzwJL9qoDE6caxp_i8rVh3nTBhYOVA56-U1iL8nLbjsA9txRPULjdwN_z60mM8">flirted</a> with the accused, drank <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0964663907082737">alcohol</a>, had <a href="https://search.informit.org/doi/epdf/10.3316/informit.592676956993991">previously consented</a> to sex with the accused or another person, or whether they might have a “motive” to <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/11470">lie</a> about rape. </p>
<p>This is exactly what law reform is focused on changing, including through the introduction of <a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-adopts-affirmative-consent-in-sexual-assault-laws-what-does-this-mean-161497">affirmative consent</a> standards that require active communication of willingness to engage in a sexual act. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-adopts-affirmative-consent-in-sexual-assault-laws-what-does-this-mean-161497">NSW adopts affirmative consent in sexual assault laws. What does this mean?</a>
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<p>But this questioning is designed to encourage the jury to draw on rape myths, including about the truthfulness of rape allegations, based on the premise that such allegations are easily made and difficult to defend. </p>
<p>In reality, the opposite is true – most people who experience rape <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/0375553f-0395-46cc-9574-d54c74fa601a/aihw-fdv-5.pdf.aspx?inline=true">never report</a> to the police. And for those who do, convictions are <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/653101">rare</a>.</p>
<p>In effect, these trial practices put the complainant on trial, and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-was-never-the-brittany-higgins-trial-but-it-seemed-like-it-20221019-p5br3v.html">we certainly saw this happen to Higgins</a>.</p>
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<h2>Trial by media</h2>
<p>For Higgins, the experience extended far beyond the courtroom, to a “trial by media”.</p>
<p>Over the course of the trial, including multiple days of intrusive cross-examination about her every action in the days, weeks and months before and after the night in question, the <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/court-justice/brittany-higgins-faces-cross-examination-at-trial-of-accused-rapist-as-court-played-cctv-from-night-of-incident-c-8459385">media relentlessly reported on her every word</a>. And, of course, photographers were on hand to capture a snap of her as she left each evening.</p>
<p>The media focus was on Higgins. Defence assertions likening Higgins to a “con artist”, calling her “unreliable”, and statements characterising her evidence as “lies” have been featured across news headlines. But statements by legal counsel are not evidence, nor are the questions put to any witness during a trial. Yet they were repeated in the media, often uncritically. </p>
<p>This type of reporting lends legitimacy to rape myths, particularly the notion that a rape trial is “her word against his”. This isn’t true in a case that started with a witness list of 58 names. </p>
<p>This is also hardly in line with the principles of due process. For Lehrmann, inappropriate media reporting, prompted by Lisa Wilkinson’s ill-considered <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-brittany-higgins-trial-delayed-and-what-is-contempt-of-court-a-legal-experts-view-on-the-lisa-wilkinson-saga-185585">Logies acceptance speech</a> and equally ill-advised reporting of the speech in the days that followed, threatened his right to the presumption of innocence. This forced a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-21/act-bruce-lehrmann-granted-temporary-stay-delaying-trial/101170550">delay</a> of the trial to protect his rights.</p>
<p>For Higgins though, apparently no such rights apply. Instead, a criminal justice system that is not fit for purpose and a media storm more interested in the scandal, both bolstered by a community that readily consumed and regurgitated sexist victim-blaming narratives, saw the charges dropped. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-brittany-higgins-trial-delayed-and-what-is-contempt-of-court-a-legal-experts-view-on-the-lisa-wilkinson-saga-185585">Why was the Brittany Higgins trial delayed, and what is 'contempt of court'? A legal expert's view on the Lisa Wilkinson saga</a>
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<h2>Impact on survivors</h2>
<p>Ignoring sexual violence in the media isn’t the answer - change rarely comes out of darkness. But we do need to respect the dignity and privacy of victim-survivors.</p>
<p>The spectacle of the Lehrmann case doesn’t just affect those involved. The impacts will be felt far beyond. </p>
<p>For the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/personal-safety-australia/2016">one in five women and one in 20 men</a> in Australia who experience sexual violence in their lifetime, this view into the criminal justice system and into the reporting of sexual violence has sent a clear message – in Australia, it’s the survivors on trial.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-change-making-history-making-noise-brittany-higgins-and-grace-tame-at-the-national-press-club-176252">Making change, making history, making noise: Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192495/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachael Burgin receives funding from Family Safety Victoria. She is the CEO of Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy (RASARA).</span></em></p>ACT Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shane Drumgold today announced that the charges against Bruce Lehrmann, the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in 2019, have been withdrawn…Rachael Burgin, Lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1958052022-12-02T00:02:10Z2022-12-02T00:02:10ZLehrmann retrial abandoned because of ‘a significant and unacceptable risk’ to Brittany Higgins’ life<p>The plan for a second trial of Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped after expert medical advice warned it posed a “significant and unacceptable risk” to Brittany Higgins’ life. </p>
<p>The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, announced the decision in a statement at 10am Friday. He also condemned in the strongest terms the attacks Higgins has had to endure.</p>
<p>She is currently in hospital. </p>
<p>Higgins, a former Liberal staffer, alleged Lehrmann, then a fellow staffer, raped her in the office of then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds in 2019. The pair had returned to the parliament house office after a night out drinking. Lehrmann denied the allegation.</p>
<p>The latest development follows the abandonment of an earlier trial after it was found a juror had done their own research, against the explicit and repeated instructions of the judge. Another trial had been due to start early in the new year. </p>
<p>Drumgold said in his statement there were two considerations under ACT policy in deciding whether to continue a prosecution: whether there was a reasonable prospect of a conviction and, if so, if it were in the public interest to proceed. </p>
<p>In June he had “formed a clear view that there was a reasonable prospect of conviction and this is a view that I still hold to date”, he said. </p>
<p>But under the public interest test he had to consider “the harm that could be occasioned to a party, particularly a complainant, from an ongoing prosecution”. </p>
<p>He had now received “compelling evidence from two independent medical experts that the ongoing trauma associated with this prosecution presents a significant and unacceptable risk to the life” of Higgins. </p>
<p>“The evidence makes it clear that this is not limited to the harm of giving evidence in a witness box, rather [it] applies whether or not the complainant is required to enter a witness box during a retrial. </p>
<p>"Whilst the pursuit of justice is essential for both my office and for the community in general, the safety of a complainant in a sexual assault matter must be paramount,” Drumgold said.</p>
<p>“In light of the compelling independent medical opinion and balancing all factors, I have made the difficult decision that it is no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of the complainant’s life.” </p>
<p>This had left him with no option but not to proceed with a retrial.</p>
<p>Drumgold also delivered an exceptionally strong condemnation of the treatment to which Higgins had been subjected. </p>
<p>“During the investigation and trial as a sexual assault complainant, Ms Higgins has faced a level of personal attack that I have not seen in over 20 years of doing this work. </p>
<p>"She has done so with bravery, grace and dignity and it is my hope that this will now stop and Ms Higgins will be allowed to heal.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195805/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The plan for a second trial of Bruce Lehrmann has been dropped after expert medical advice warned it posed a “significant and unacceptable risk” to Brittany Higgins’ life. The ACT Director of Public Prosecutions…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938432022-11-07T19:01:55Z2022-11-07T19:01:55ZCan juries still deliver justice in high-profile cases in the age of social media?<p>The recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-lehrmann-trial-aborted-and-what-happens-next-193382">sudden end</a> to the Bruce Lehrmann trial last month raises again whether the jury is fit for purpose in a 21st century hyper-connected world.</p>
<p>That jury’s service in the Lehrmann case ended peremptorily after it was revealed to the judge that material downloaded from the internet (which was highly relevant to the case and not introduced as evidence) had been found in the jury room. A retrial has been <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/courts-law/bruce-lehrmann-retrial-confirmed-for-2023-says-act-director-of-public-prosecutions-shane-drumgold/news-story/6012323f3d863985ce5a001f10a3a7eb">set for late February</a>. Lehrmann had been accused of raping former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins, to which he pleaded not guilty. </p>
<p>The costs so far (to both parties and the court) could well exceed a million dollars.</p>
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<p>With easy access to the internet available to any juror who owns a mobile phone, is it conceivable that all jurors will abide by the strict instructions of a judge admonishing them to pay attention only to the evidence adduced in the trial?</p>
<p>Are instructions to jurors to avoid media sources meaningless given the accessibility of the internet?</p>
<p>These aren’t new questions. In 2005, <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/researchpapers/Documents/trial-by-jury-recent-developments/jury%20and%20index.pdf">a report</a> prepared for the NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service observed:</p>
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<p>Prominent cases in recent years […] have illustrated the legal problems that can occur when jurors, despite judicial instructions to confine their deliberations to the evidence before them, undertake their own research, discuss the case with non-jurors, or visit a place connected with the offence. The increasing amount of legal information available on the internet is a cause for particular concern. The Jury Amendment Act 2004 […] prohibits jurors from making inquiries about the accused or issues in the trial, except in the proper exercise of juror functions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But for all the warnings and threats of consequences, a juror may still stray down <a href="http://www.lawfoundation.net.au/ljf/site/templates/grants/$file/UNSW_Jury_Study_Hunter_2013.pdf">the path of private sleuth</a>. It’s easy to do and Australians have a voracious appetite for social media. In 2018 <a href="https://www.yellow.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Yellow-Social-Media-Report-2018-Consumer.pdf">a survey reported</a> 62% of Australian adults use social media sites every day, and 34% use them more than five times a day.</p>
<p>This becomes particularly problematic when the eyes of the world are fixed on cases such as these.</p>
<p>The sudden and unexpected end to the Lehrmann trial prompts a more fundamental question: should we continue to persist with juries at all?</p>
<h2>Two sides</h2>
<p>There are two sides to the argument regarding retention of the jury.</p>
<p>On the one hand, juries have stood the test of time. The idea of being tried by one’s peers was entrenched by the <a href="https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-and-jury-trial">Magna Carta of 1215</a>. Even though the jury as we know it didn’t crystallise until about 350 years ago and has been through a number of permutations since then, there would be few people who could argue against its symbolic legitimacy given its staying power.</p>
<p>Over that time, juries have been given sustained examination in Australia by the <a href="https://www.lawreform.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Publications/Reports/Report-48.pdf">New South Wales Law Reform Commission</a>, the Queensland <a href="https://www.ccc.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/Docs/Publications/CJC/The-jury-system-in-criminal-trials-in-qld-Issues-paper-1991.pdf">Criminal Justice Commission</a>, the <a href="https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/lawrefrom/jury_service/report_volume_1.pdf">Victorian Law Reform Committee</a>, and most recently by academics at <a href="https://cdn.csu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/3452182/Jury-Reasoning-v2-NEW-BRANDING.pdf">Charles Sturt University</a>, to name a few. Juries have survived largely intact throughout this exercise.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there are doubts about their efficiency. Juries took a hit after the High Court decision <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-jury-may-be-out-on-the-jury-system-after-george-pells-successful-appeal-135814">in the George Pell appeal</a> where the judges, in allowing the appeal, ruled that no jury, properly instructed, could have reached a guilty verdict in his trial.</p>
<p>What’s more, it’s overstated to say that trial by jury is a fundamental bulwark of fairness in the criminal justice system. Indeed, 92% of criminal matters in Australia are dealt with in the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/criminal-courts-australia/latest-release">magistrates courts</a>, where there are no juries. Of the remaining 8% referred to the “superior” criminal courts (Supreme, District and County), more and more defendants are choosing “judge alone” trials (in jurisdictions where that option is available). For example, in NSW, <a href="https://theconversation.com/jury-is-out-why-shifting-to-judge-alone-trials-is-a-flawed-approach-to-criminal-justice-137397">up to a quarter of accused persons</a> are now electing to be tried without a jury.</p>
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<p>Other studies have highlighted how jurors <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0194659507000470">overrate DNA evidence</a> despite judicial directions, which may lead to <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:10533">far more jury convictions</a> than are warranted, and how jurors’ perceptions of guilt and innocence can be affected by the <a href="https://researchdirect.westernsydney.edu.au/islandora/object/uws:44141">positioning of defendants</a> in the courtroom. <a href="https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:331175">Another study</a> found that although jurors report they understand directions, they often don’t appear to use those directions in arriving at a decision.</p>
<p>And finally, as the Lehrmann trial has illustrated, it’s not unusual for jurors to ignore or misunderstand the instructions that have been given to them.</p>
<p>But, what about the ability of juries to apply some of their own “commonsense” justice? True, there are examples of juries wielding their own commonsense stick. For example, a verdict that <a href="https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7dtm6g/R-v-R-1981-28-SASR-321-South-Australian-Supreme-Court-King-CJ-Jacobs-Zelling-JJ/">occurred in 1981</a> when a South Australian jury returned a verdict of not guilty for a woman who had been charged with the murder of her husband. The jury decided that the defence of provocation (only available to reduce murder to manslaughter) exonerated her, figuring that, in the time before the victim’s death, his severe and persistent abuse of his family had pushed his wife to breaking point.</p>
<p>There is, however, a contrary argument. Research has revealed that “commonsense” <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/lapo.12181">comes with coded biases</a>, such that telling jurors to use their commonsense is futile, given it’s difficult (if not impossible) to erode such biases.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/juries-are-subject-to-all-kinds-of-biases-when-it-comes-to-deciding-on-a-trial-176721">Juries are subject to all kinds of biases when it comes to deciding on a trial</a>
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<h2>Are there other options?</h2>
<p>One alternative to the jury is mixed judiciaries used in some European countries, where one may find a panel of judges or <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32863/chapter/275978049?login=true">a combination of judges and lay people</a>. But the common law world has never looked like following that lead.</p>
<p>Another alternative in use in Australia is a judge alone trial, although <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9697/97rp11">that option</a> isn’t always available, and by virtue of <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/RP9697/97rp11">Section 80 of the Constitution</a> isn’t available in a trial of a serious federal offence. Indeed, there’s no guarantee that judges themselves are immune from social media influences. While there’s a widespread belief that judges are more capable than juries of putting <a href="https://chelmsfordlegal.com.au/trial-by-judge-alone-is-it-possible-and-if-so-is-it-preferable/">to one side their own prejudices</a>, the rules regarding sub judice contempt (discussing publicly a matter that is before a court in a manner that may influence the outcome) applies equally to judge alone and jury trials.</p>
<p>Adding to the policy confusion, there’s some evidence trials by judge alone do make a difference to the outcome. The NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics <a href="https://stacklaw.com.au/news/criminal-law/trial-by-jury-vs-trial-by-judge-alone-whats-the-difference/">examined NSW trials between 1993 and 2011</a> and found defendants were acquitted 55.4% of the time in a judge alone trial, compared to 29% in a jury trial. </p>
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<p>Another reform idea is to allow jurors to <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=dMsPrLwAAAAJ&citation_for_view=dMsPrLwAAAAJ:7PzlFSSx8tAC">raise questions with the judge</a> during breaks in the trial, including asking about things they may have “accidentally” come across on social media. A judge could send the jury out while the lawyers present to the judge how they think the questions should be handled and answered. However, this idea has yet to excite policymakers.</p>
<p>In the end, we must accept there are flaws in jury process. But finding acceptable alternatives has proved difficult, hence the reluctance of governments to abandon the status quo. Judges will continue to warn against private sleuthing, but one suspects that it will, from time to time, continue regardless.</p>
<p>One can only hope the disaster that befell the Lehrmann trial sends a salutary lesson to prospective jurors henceforth: listen to what the judge tells you, and during the course of the trial leave your favourite search engine alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193843/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre is an office holder in SA Labor.</span></em></p>In the end, we must accept there are flaws in jury processes. But finding alternatives has proved difficult, hence the reluctance of governments to abandon the status quo.Rick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1933822022-10-27T04:39:45Z2022-10-27T04:39:45ZWhy was the Lehrmann trial aborted and what happens next?<p>The trial of Bruce Lehrmann, accused of raping former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-27/jury-discharged-in-trial-of-bruce-lehrmann-brittany-higgins/101583486">has been aborted</a> after a juror was found in possession of material that had not been presented as evidence, against the judge’s specific directions.</p>
<p>This was not the first drama in the jury’s deliberations. On Tuesday, after more than four days of deliberating, the 12 jurors passed a note to ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum saying they could not agree on a unanimous verdict. The judge called the jurors back into the courtroom and encouraged them to keep working on a decision.</p>
<p>Today, however, she announced she had no choice but to discharge the jury due to a juror’s “misconduct”, which was apparently discovered when a member of the court staff noticed an academic research paper in one of the juror’s document holders that had been knocked to the floor. </p>
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<h2>Is this uncommon?</h2>
<p>It’s not uncommon for juries to be discharged in circumstances where a juror decides to do their own unauthorised research, such as by <a href="https://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/opinion/juror-misconduct-leads-to-quashed-conviction-and-retrial">photographing a crime scene</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-07/bendigo-rape-trial-abandoned-after-juror-breaches-instructions/100973386">making their own enquiries</a>, or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2008/s2326031.htm">planning to visit a place</a> mentioned in evidence. </p>
<p>One of the more extraordinary cases of jury misconduct occurred in 1994 when a number of jurors in Britain <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-08/ouija-board-juror-misbehaviour-murder-trials/9734868">deployed a ouija board</a> to contact the victim of a murder. A <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/7504302">new trial was ordered</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, misconduct often comes to light when one juror approaches the judge about a fellow juror’s behaviour. It’s more difficult to know how common it is for extraneous research by a juror to go undetected, particularly given the veil of secrecy that surrounds jury deliberations.</p>
<p>In today’s hyper-connected world, it’s easy for a juror to access information, in this case an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/jury-discharged-in-bruce-lehrmann-case-after-material-entered-jury-room-that-ought-not-to-have">academic paper about the incidence of false complaints of rape</a>. </p>
<h2>Why are jurors not allowed to conduct their own research?</h2>
<p>The role of the jury is to come to a decision based on the evidence before them.
Juries are community representatives within the courtroom, whose job it is to determine questions of fact and apply the law to those facts to reach a verdict. </p>
<p>One might think that, in so doing, it’s inevitable individual jurors bring with them their own life experiences and moral values, and there is nothing wrong with that. Indeed, Justice McCallum told the jury in this case:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You are expected to use your common sense […] your understanding of human nature and your ability to judge people […] You are entitled to have regard to your understanding and experience of the nature of memory.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, the jurors in the trial of Lehrmann sat through days of evidence, carefully presented and argued over by prosecution and defence counsel, and deemed admissible according to the rules of evidence.</p>
<p>The most important rule of admissibility is that the evidence is relevant to the case. Beyond relevance, evidence is subject to complex rules of admissibility, designed primarily to screen out material that’s unfairly prejudicial to the defence, and to protect vulnerable witnesses.</p>
<p>Examples include rules against the admission of hearsay, prior sexual experience of a complainant, or the “character” of a defendant. These rules are all the more important when it comes to <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi344">emotive crimes like rape</a>. </p>
<p>Given the complex nature of some of the evidence with which they are presented, and the “holes” in the trial narrative that might appear from the exclusion of potentially relevant evidence, jury members may be tempted to turn to outside sources in an attempt to increase their understanding of issues raised during the course of a trial.</p>
<p>The dangers of allowing such extraneous “research” are twofold. First, such evidence is not subject to the rules of admissibility alluded to above. Second, it is not subject to the rigours of cross-examination. </p>
<p>For these reasons, jurors are reminded again and again to come to a decision based solely on the evidence presented. It’s for this reason the jury in this case will have been instructed to disregard anything they may have read, heard or seen in the media about the case before they had been empanelled, and certainly not to undertake their own research.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-brittany-higgins-trial-delayed-and-what-is-contempt-of-court-a-legal-experts-view-on-the-lisa-wilkinson-saga-185585">Why was the Brittany Higgins trial delayed, and what is 'contempt of court'? A legal expert's view on the Lisa Wilkinson saga</a>
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<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The trial has been aborted and the jury has been dismissed. The judge granted Lehrmann bail until February 20, and set that as a provisional retrial date. The matter is now referred back to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Shane Drumgold. It’s a matter for him, ultimately, to determine whether to proceed with a retrial.</p>
<p>A retrial comes at considerable economic cost. What’s more, all of the witnesses will now be put through the same ordeal once again. </p>
<p>Despite the disruption caused by the errant juror’s behaviour, however well-meaning, the juror has committed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/oct/27/jury-discharged-in-bruce-lehrmann-case-after-material-entered-jury-room-that-ought-not-to-have">no offence in the ACT</a>. However, other jurisdictions deem juror contempt <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/jan/23/juror-contempt-court-online-research">a serious criminal offence</a>.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen what the next chapter in this protracted case brings.</p>
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<p><em>Correction: this article previously stated that it’s unclear whether a retrial will be heard before a jury. This has been removed. ACT law requires the charge of “sexual intercourse without consent” to be heard before a jury.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193382/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre is affiliated with the ALP.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Livings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The dangers of allowing extraneous “research” are twofold. First, such evidence is not subject to the rules of admissibility. Second, it isn’t subject to the rigours of cross-examination.Ben Livings, Associate Professor of Criminal Law and Evidence, University of South AustraliaRick Sarre, Emeritus Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1923962022-10-26T23:49:25Z2022-10-26T23:49:25ZLehrmann trial aborted after juror accessed own information<p>The jury in the Lehrmann trial has been discharged after it was discovered a juror had obtained information outside the evidence presented. </p>
<p>ACT Chief Justice Lucy McCallum said it was unfortunate but indicated she had no option but to abort the trial. A new trial has been scheduled for February 20.</p>
<p>The member of the 12 person jury – which had been deliberating since last Wednesday – had been doing their own research. </p>
<p>McCallum said she had told the jurors at least 17 times not to seek information outside the court.</p>
<p>She said she had told them: “You must not try to undertake your own research”.</p>
<p>Early this week, jurors indicated they had not been able to reach a unanimous verdict, but McCallum urged them to continue to deliberate. </p>
<p>The juror’s material was found during a routine tidying. It was a research paper on the unhelpfulness of trying to quantify the prevalence of false complaints.</p>
<p>Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann was charged with raping his then colleague Brittany Higgins in the office of then Coalition minister Linda Reynolds shortly before the 2019 election. </p>
<p>Higgins’ sensational allegation, which she made public in the media in early 2021, fuelled a debate about a toxic culture in the Parliament House workplace and created serious and ongoing political problems for then Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was widely accused of mishandling the fallout. </p>
<p>The trial saw Higgins face extensive questioning from the defence counsel and also heard evidence from Reynolds and another former minister, Michaelia Cash, for whom Higgins worked after leaving the Reynolds office. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-was-the-brittany-higgins-trial-delayed-and-what-is-contempt-of-court-a-legal-experts-view-on-the-lisa-wilkinson-saga-185585">Why was the Brittany Higgins trial delayed, and what is 'contempt of court'? A legal expert's view on the Lisa Wilkinson saga</a>
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<p>Reynolds denied her main concern when she first discussed the incident with Higgins was that if it came out it would harm the government at the imminent election. </p>
<p>The jury also heard from witnesses who were ministerial and parliamentary security staff at the time. </p>
<p>Higgins accused Lehrmann of assaulting her on a couch in the parliamentary office of Reynolds, who was defence industry minister at the time, in March 2019, after a night out drinking in two Canberra bars.</p>
<p>Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. </p>
<p>Higgins spoke with police in 2019 but decided not to pursue the matter. In 2021, after giving two media interviews, she went ahead with a complaint. </p>
<p>She told police in February 2021 that she had been drinking with defence industry contractors and staffers, including Lehrmann, at The Dock in Kingston and 88mph on the evening of March 22, 2019.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-jenkins-review-has-28-recommendations-to-fix-parliaments-toxic-culture-will-our-leaders-listen-172858">The Jenkins review has 28 recommendations to fix parliament's toxic culture – will our leaders listen?</a>
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<p>Higgins and Lehrmann agreed to share an Uber, but he said he “had to pick something up from Parliament House,” she said.</p>
<p>They arrived there at about 1.40am on March 23, and were let in to the Reynolds office by security. </p>
<p>Higgins, who described herself as highly intoxicated, said she fell asleep in Reynolds’ office. </p>
<p>“The next thing I remember is being on the couch as he was raping me,” she said. “I couldn’t get him off me. I was crying throughout the entire process. I said ‘no’ at least half a dozen times, he did not stop.” </p>
<p>Higgins was later found asleep and naked on the couch by a parliamentary security officer. </p>
<p>According to parliamentary security guard Mark Fairweather, Lehrmann left the building at 2:33am. Higgins departed several hours later, putting a jacket from a charity bag of clothes over her white dress. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrison-says-sorry-to-higgins-for-terrible-things-that-happened-176686">Morrison says 'sorry' to Higgins for 'terrible things' that happened</a>
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<p>The court heard Higgins told her former partner, Ben Dillaway, that she’d woken “half naked” in Reynolds office and was “barely lucid”. </p>
<p>“I really don’t think it was consensual at all,” Higgins texted Dillaway on March 26, 2019. Dillaway subsequently said he would speak to someone in the prime minister’s office on her behalf.</p>
<p>In his interview with police after the allegations went public, Lehrmann said the pair had no sexual contact. He described it as “an innocuous sort of night” with colleagues.</p>
<p>Lehrmann said when they entered the ministerial suite he went to his desk while Higgins entered Reynolds’ office. He said he did not see her again before he left.</p>
<p>Lehrmann was quickly dismissed after the late night visit, for “serious misconduct”, with Reynolds citing his entering her ministerial suite for non-work purposes and being dishonest about his reasons (telling security he was there for official business).</p>
<p>Higgins, under cross examination, denied falsifying the allegations because she was worried about losing her job. “I’m not a monster, I would never do something like that,” she told the court.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-2021-metoo-finally-made-it-to-auspol-what-happens-next-173153">In 2021 #MeToo finally made it to #Auspol – what happens next?</a>
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<p>Concluding her evidence – which was broken by an interval of several days when she was “unavailable” – Higgins addressed Lehrmann directly, declaring “nothing was fine after what you did to me, nothing”. </p>
<p>It was revealed during Reynolds’ evidence that the former minister had asked Lehrmann’s legal team for transcripts of Higgins’ evidence and also suggested text messages between Higgins and another of her former staffers, who was friendly with Higgins, “may be revealing”. As well, Reynolds’ partner sat in court during the case. </p>
<p>Reynolds, who had been told her contacts were inappropriate, denied the claim by prosecutor Shane Drumgold that she had been “attempting the coach the cross-examination”. </p>
<p>Summing up at the end of the trial, Drumgold posed five questions he said the jury had to consider: Was Lehrmann attracted to Higgins? Why did he go to parliament house? Did he have sex with Higgins? Did Higgins consent? Was Lehrmann reckless as to whether Higgins consented?</p>
<p>Drumgold described Higgins as an “inherently credible witness”. “When she couldn’t recall something, she said so … when she didn’t know an answer, she made it plain,” he said. She “didn’t seem to embellish her account of rape at all”.</p>
<p>He also said “there were clearly strong political forces at play in the period immediately after the events, through the election and beyond. These forces were at play for the almost two years [Higgins] worked for Senator Cash”.</p>
<p>In his summing up defence barrister Steven Whybrow said “Lehrmann has no onus to prove anything”.</p>
<p>“We can probably sum up this case in the kindest way to Ms Higgins … and just say she doesn’t know what happened,” he told the court. “What we do know for a fact [is] that Ms Higgins passed out, fell asleep in the minister for defence industry private office and is seen by a security guard naked.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-missing-women-of-australian-politics-research-shows-the-toll-of-harassment-abuse-and-stalking-168567">The missing women of Australian politics — research shows the toll of harassment, abuse and stalking</a>
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<p>He allowed Higgins might now be convinced of what she alleged. “She doesn’t know what happened and she’s reconstructed events to the point she now genuinely believes they’re to be true.</p>
<p>"That doesn’t mean they are true. If she’s convinced herself in the witness box this has happened it might be entirely genuine.”</p>
<p>In her directions to the jurors, McCallum told them: “It’s important that you are satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the witness is both honest and accurate in the account she has given”. In considering her evidence, “you may like to see whether it’s supported by other evidence”.</p>
<p>Urging them to assess the evidence clinically, McCallum said: “You would have seen the number of journalists in court every day. They’re practically hanging from the rafters.</p>
<p>"You are not answerable in this trial to public opinion no matter which way you think it sways.” </p>
<p>McCallum said there were three questions to be considered: whether sexual intercourse happened, which was the “principal issue”; whether consent was given by Higgins (it can’t be given if a person is unconscious, asleep or too intoxicated), and whether Lehrmann was reckless towards whether Higgins was consenting.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192396/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Higgins accused Lehrmann of assaulting her in the parliamentary office of Reynolds, who was defence industry minister, in March 2019, after a night out drinking in two Canberra barsMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1918672022-10-04T09:01:28Z2022-10-04T09:01:28ZWord from The Hill: Yet another rate rise, Stage 3 tax cuts, a repatriation mission, Higgins case<p>As well as her interviews with politicians and experts, Politics with Michelle Grattan includes “Word from The Hill”, where she discusses the news with members of The Conversation politics team.</p>
<p>In this episode, Michelle and politics + society editor Amanda Dunn discuss the Reserve Bank’s Tuesday interest rate rise of 25 basis points, as the bank tries to chart a careful path between fighting inflation and avoiding the risk of pushing the economy into recession. Amid all the current economic uncertainty, overseas and domestically, there is now speculation the government may rearrange the Stage 3 tax cuts. </p>
<p>The podcast also canvasses the government’s plans to return Australian women and children held in Syrian camps, as well as the start in Canberra of the case involving the alleged rape of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Michelle Grattan & politics + society editor Amanda Dunn canvass Tuesdays interest rate hike, Australia's repatriation mission of women and children in refugee camps and the Brittany Higgins trial.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1797492022-04-10T00:55:25Z2022-04-10T00:55:25ZWomen have been at the centre of political debate in the past two years. Will they decide the 2022 election?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455987/original/file-20220404-23-4t7llb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Diego Fidele</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After months of speculation, Australians will go to the polls on May 21.</p>
<p>Given the events of the past two years, so-called “women’s issues” look set to play an important role in the campaign. Apart from the government’s headline gender problems, most notably their handling of the Brittany Higgins case, the COVID pandemic exposed the ways our culture still <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/report/womens-work/">relies on women</a> to perform most of the care work that keeps society functioning. Women workers in retail, health and aged care were at the pandemic frontlines; at home, many juggled paid work with care for children and ageing relatives. </p>
<p>How will the major parties speak to these women?</p>
<p>This government is nine years old, and it has had what former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described as a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/mar/09/far-too-blokey-turnbull-says-liberal-party-has-gender-inequality-problem">women problem</a>” in its parliamentary ranks for all of that time. The LNP still has far <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/australia-datablog/2021/mar/31/drilling-down-into-the-gender-balance-in-australias-parliament">fewer women in parliament</a> than the Labor party, and since the departure of Julie Bishop, they have few popular female campaigners to draw on.</p>
<p>In contrast, more than 40% of Labor’s MPs are women. According to recent research, Penny Wong is Australia’s <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2022/03/23/australia-least-trusted-politicians/">most trusted</a> politician, with Tanya Plibersek not far behind.</p>
<p>Yet despite these high-profile women, for most voters, the election is a contest between two white men, close in age and appearance. After the ALP’s demoralising defeat in 2019 on a progressive platform of redistributive tax reform (changes to franking credits and negative gearing) and health (free cancer treatment and abortions in public hospitals), this time they have chosen a small target strategy. The differences between the two parties are far less obvious than they were in 2019. </p>
<p>Yet much has changed since then. The country has experienced a disruptive three years. While Australians rose to the occasion during the pandemic, enduring lockdowns and quickly getting vaccinated, they were let down by the government’s failures in planning and procurement. </p>
<p>The politics of climate change have also changed since 2019, when Labor was caught between “coal seats” and progressive voters. Three years of unprecedented natural disasters and the government’s failure to take meaningful action mean the LNP is now wedged on climate by the “teal” independents in blue-ribbon seats. </p>
<p>And since the last election, the Coalition’s treatment of women has become a defining issue. In 2018, the party’s humiliation of Julie Bishop as a leadership contender raised the hackles of many in the LNP, including Julia Banks, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/29/liberal-mp-julia-banks-to-quit-parliament-next-election-citing-bullying-and-intimidation">resigned from parliament</a>, alleging bullying. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455982/original/file-20220404-15-kquu4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame, among others, have done much to galvanise women since the last election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span>
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<p>But it was the emergence of 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame as an eloquent critic of the government on gender issues and Brittany Higgins’ allegation of sexual assault that galvanised Australian women. </p>
<p>Add to that Morrison’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/04/scott-morrison-rejects-calls-for-independent-inquiry-into-allegation-against-christian-porter">response</a> to the allegations made against Christian Porter, his treatment of former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate, the expensive stage three tax cuts that will overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/17/men-on-high-incomes-to-take-lions-share-of-coalitions-184bn-tax-cuts-analyses-find">favour men</a>, failure to enforce a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-07/kate-jenkins-respect-at-work-report/100438496">positive duty</a>” on employers to ensure workplaces free of sexual harassment, and more allegations of bullying against the prime minister from <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/liberal-senator-blasts-scott-morrison-has-a-bully-who-is-unfit-to-lead-the-nation/news-story/6488b795691e71bd1cd69854c3af1746">women in his party</a>, and it’s pretty clear the government still has a “women problem”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-change-making-history-making-noise-brittany-higgins-and-grace-tame-at-the-national-press-club-176252">Making change, making history, making noise: Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club</a>
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<p>The unseemly eagerness with which the government seized on unproven allegations that the late Senator Kimberly Kitching had been bullied showed how desperate they are to level the playing field on “women’s issues”.</p>
<p>But how will all this play out in the election campaign? </p>
<h2>How women reshaped the major parties</h2>
<p>The last few decades have seen a realignment of support for the major parties along gender lines, and the gender differences in voter bases have been especially stark in the Morrison era. </p>
<p>Historically, Australian women tended to vote conservative. While there were very few women in Australia’s parliaments until the late 1970s, those elected tended to represent the Liberal and National parties. The ALP was regarded as a party with a male-dominated union culture, hostile to women. </p>
<p>The emergence of what historian Judith Brett called a “moral middle class” in the 1960s began a larger political realignment in Australia. The Labor party broadened its appeal to the emerging progressive middle class, and women became a crucial part of this constituency as they moved into the workforce and education, expanding their horizons and changing their priorities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/memo-liberal-women-if-you-really-want-to-confront-misogyny-in-your-party-you-need-to-fix-the-policies-157687">Memo Liberal women: if you really want to confront misogyny in your party, you need to fix the policies</a>
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<p>Since the 1980s, the gender gap between women and men’s support for the major parties has waxed and waned. But at the last election, the Liberal Party attracted the lowest number of votes from women <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2021/03/15/will-women-forsake-the-liberal-party-at-the-next-election-.html">since 1987</a>. More women than men <a href="https://australianelectionstudy.org/">voted for Labor</a>) in 2019. </p>
<p>Anthony Albanese’s focus on aged care in his <a href="https://theconversation.com/anthony-albanese-offers-2-5-billion-plan-to-fix-crisis-in-aged-care-180419">budget reply</a> signalled that care, in the broadest sense, would be a central plank of Labor’s campaign. This should matter to everyone – both men and women have ageing parents or grandparents. But because women largely perform society’s paid and unpaid care work, it is an issue that will resonate more with female voters.</p>
<p>To win government, Labor needs to retain women’s votes while renewing their appeal to blue collar men, many of whom shifted to the LNP in 2019. Polling suggests they have succeeded, though how it will play out in individual seats remains to be seen.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455985/original/file-20220404-23-qqn7t5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">In constantly courting the male (and often tradie) vote, Morrison has neglected women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Sarah Rhodes</span></span>
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<h2>Morrison constantly courting the male (tradie) vote</h2>
<p>So what might Morrison do to retain the “men’s vote”? Katharine Murphy has astutely observed that his political attention is always focused on men who “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/mar/27/scott-morrisons-efforts-to-engage-with-women-are-more-me-than-mea-culpa">might vote Labor</a>”. This explains why so many women are turned off by his repeated tradie cosplay: he’s not addressing them. </p>
<p>In 2019, Morrison’s “daggy dad” persona served him well: he was happy on the campaign trail, serving up stunts for the 6pm news. However, since then this strategy has faltered. He doesn’t hold a hose when it counts, and his willingness to take credit but never responsibility might represent a kind of masculinity that few Australian men will want to embrace. </p>
<p>In focusing so tightly on the male vote, Morrison has neglected women. It may yet cost him government. The wild card in this election is the number of largely female independents running in safe Liberal seats. </p>
<p>In an alternate universe, most of these women would be Liberal Party moderates, had the party not worked so hard to alienate them. In the early 2000s, John Howard dismissed Liberal-leaning women who disliked the party’s policies on refugees and social issues as “<a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/meet-the-women-who-have-john-howard-worried-20040929-gdypit.html">doctors’ wives</a>”: <a href="https://thesydneyinstitute.com.au/blog/tsi-quarterly-issue-33/">Anne Henderson </a>noted critics regarded them as women with “enough money to afford a conscience”.</p>
<p>Yet in 2022, the Liberal party would do well to remember that many “wives” are also doctors – professional, socially progressive and economically centrist, looking for candidates who represent their values. This is why the “teal” independents have made urgent action on climate, an integrity commission, and better action on gender equity central to their platforms. Their views on aged care reform – which will require increased government spending – are less clear.</p>
<p>The next few weeks will reveal whether they emerge as a new force in Australian politics. Whatever happens, many women voters are clearly signalling they will no longer be taken for granted, and this renewed engagement is a promising sign for a more responsive, representative politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Arrow receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She was a campaign volunteer for the Australian Labor Party at the 2019 election. Michelle would like to thank Shaun Wilson for his assistance in researching this article.</span></em></p>The treatment of women in Parliament House and Australian society more broadly has been the focus of much attention since the last election – how political leaders respond may decide their fate.Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1762522022-02-09T07:05:30Z2022-02-09T07:05:30ZMaking change, making history, making noise: Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame at the National Press Club<p>As an historian of the Australian women’s movement, the past two years have been extraordinary to witness. Not only are we living through a once-in-a-century pandemic, which has had profoundly gendered effects, we have also experienced a feminist insurgency that has placed the issue of women’s safety, and men’s abuses of power, at the centre of our national conversation. </p>
<p>While many activists, journalists and advocates contributed to this insurgency, it exploded largely thanks to two young women: 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame and former parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins. </p>
<p>Both just 26, both survivors of sexual assault, both abused by men – and institutions – they ought to have been able to trust. Both rejected the expectation they should be shamed into silence about their experiences. In doing so, they have helped to rewrite enduring cultural scripts about sexual abuse and sexual assault. </p>
<p>Their joint address at the National Press Club today was a valedictory speech, a way to mark their extraordinary year in the public eye. But it was also a call to action, a warning against complacency in an election year. </p>
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<p>Both made it very clear that, while hearing the voices of survivors of abuse and assault is important, it is not enough. As Higgins noted, the ways we discuss abuse are far too passive, </p>
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<p>as if sexual violence falls out of the sky. As if it is perpetrated by no-one. </p>
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<p>Of yesterday’s formal parliamentary apology to victims of alleged sexual harassment, assault and bullying, Higgins was grateful, but sceptical: </p>
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<p>They are still only words. Actions are what matter.</p>
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<p>Tame and Higgins both made passionate pleas for structural change, for measurable action to prevent sexual abuse and assault. Tame called for government to take abuse seriously: to advance consistent national legislative change on sexual offences, and to spend more on preventive education to curb Australia’s alarmingly high rates of abuse and assault. She calculated the government spends 11 cents per student per year on prevention education, because</p>
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<p>we currently have a government that is primarily concerned with short-sighted, votes-based funding, not with long-term, needs-based funding.</p>
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<p>To those of us used to government by spin, obfuscation and photo ops in high-vis vests, Tame and Higgins’ moral clarity and bluntness are exhilarating. Both vehemently ruled out the possibility of political careers and, indeed, the journalists asking them about their political aspirations seem to misread their social and political role. </p>
<p>They are advocates and activists, who use their public platform to articulate complex issues in clear, direct ways. Tame, in particular, clearly has no intention of playing by anyone else’s rules, as her memorable side-eye to the prime minister at The Lodge demonstrated.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445336/original/file-20220209-15-1ktuty3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grace Tame has made it clear she does not intend to play by anyone else’s rules.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their speeches also confirmed that their actions had rattled the Morrison government, whose response to them has been ham-fisted at every turn. Tame <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/feb/09/australia-politics-news-live-brittany-jenkins-grace-tame-scott-morrison-parliament-coronavirus-covid-omicron-weather">revealed</a> that in August 2021 a representative of a government-funded organisation (which she declined to name) had asked for her “word” that she would not say anything about the prime minister on the evening before the 2022 Australian of the Year awards. “You are an influential person. He will have a fear,” she was told. She speculated he had “a fear he might lose his position, or, more to the point, his power”. The prime minister’s office later said it had no knowledge of such a call to Tame and the person who made it should apologise.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-morrison-finds-strong-women-can-be-tough-players-158648">Grattan on Friday: Morrison finds strong women can be tough players</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Tame also reminded us the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet conducted a review of the selection process for Australian of the Year not long after she won the award. This was an attempt at intimidation, as Tame notes, but it also spoke to the government’s dislike of her fearless critique.</p>
<p>Higgins was consistently treated by many in the Morrison government as a political problem to be managed. In the wake of her allegations, the prime minister commissioned not one, not two, but four reviews, all the while dragging his heels on a formal response to Kate Jenkins’s landmark <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/sex-discrimination/publications/respectwork-sexual-harassment-national-inquiry-report-2020">Respect@Work</a> report. </p>
<p>Higgins reminded us that implementing Respect@Work, especially the proposed “positive duty” on employers to provide a safe workplace, would have </p>
<blockquote>
<p>impacted every single working woman in the country. And we just kind of let that moment slide by without thinking. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445337/original/file-20220209-32038-ezlcw0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The government has long dealt with Brittany Higgins as a problem to be managed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tame and Higgins dissected the government’s performance on gender over the past year. Tame called out Christian Porter’s reliance on a blind trust to fund his unsuccessful defamation case against the ABC. Higgins eviscerated the government’s <a href="https://engage.dss.gov.au/draft-national-plan-to-end-violence-against-women-and-children-2022-2032/">National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children</a> for its “vague and lofty” aims, its lack of targets and clear plans. She noted the shocking statistics on domestic violence that </p>
<blockquote>
<p>you’ve heard […] rattled off at white-ribbon breakfasts […] They should spur us to do whatever it takes. But instead they’ve become a sort of throat-clearing exercise that we all just kind of tolerate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Policy action on abuse and assault has been a litmus test for the Morrison government’s views on women. According to Higgins and Tame, it is a test the government has failed at every turn. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1491235542755086336"}"></div></p>
<p>In the 1970s, feminist activists told personal stories in public because of their belief that “the personal is political”. Yet victims of sexual assault or abuse typically remained anonymous, because of the shame that was attached to these crimes. </p>
<p>More recently, advocates like Rosie Batty, and now young women including Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, have personalised these difficult issues, making them harder for politicians to ignore. The #MeToo and #LetHerSpeak movements have centred on survivors and focused on hearing their stories. As Tame said in her NPC address: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>How beautiful is freedom of speech? I haven’t always had it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the problems with a movement based on storytelling in public spaces is the brutal toll it exacts on survivors. Tame noted she had spent the past year being “revictimised, commodified, objectified, sensationalised, legitimised [and] gaslit”. As Tarana Burke has <a href="https://healinghonestly.com/pop-culture/me-too-movement-not-moment">pointed out</a>, survivors “shouldn’t have to perform our pain over and over again for the sake of your awareness”. </p>
<p>There are other problems with placing too much emphasis on individuals like Tame or Higgins: two young white women can hardly represent all assault survivors, as <a href="https://peril.com.au/back-editions/edition-35/metoo-uneven-distribution-of-trauma/">Shakira Hussein</a> and others have pointed out. And we must be careful not to confuse justice for individuals with broader structural changes to protect all people from abuse and harassment.</p>
<p>But by speaking truth to power, Higgins and Tame have reinvigorated feminism for a new generation of young women. Back in the 1990s, older feminists worried young women were not taking up the feminist mantle. No-one is saying that now. Teenage girls know Grace Tame’s name, and they admire her courage and her strength. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-brittany-higgins-will-the-foster-review-prevent-another-serious-incident-at-parliament-162182">After Brittany Higgins: will the Foster review prevent another 'serious incident' at parliament?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As <a href="https://www.quarterlyessay.com.au/essay/2021/11/the-reckoning">Jess Hill</a> and others have noted, the public face of Australian feminism in the 2010s was dominated by “corporate feminism”: seemingly preoccupied with getting more women on boards rather than raising the wages of low-paid female workers in aged care or childcare, for example. </p>
<p>Sexual harassment is still, shockingly, endemic across Australia, and too many people have experienced sexual abuse and assault. By highlighting this problem – which at its core is about the gendered abuse of power – Tame and Higgins have mobilised a broad constituency of Australian women. They inspired thousands to march for justice and others to run for political office. Maybe they will play a decisive role in this year’s federal election. </p>
<p>As Tame reminded us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[our leaders] may either be constructive or destructive. But every single one of them is arguably replaceable.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><em>If you or anyone you know needs help, please call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176252/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Arrow receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She was a campaign volunteer for the ALP at the 2019 election. </span></em></p>In two powerful addresses, Tame and Higgins have insisted on action instead of just words on sexual abuse, and reinvigorated feminism for a new generation of young women.Michelle Arrow, Professor of History, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1766862022-02-08T04:53:59Z2022-02-08T04:53:59ZMorrison says ‘sorry’ to Higgins for ‘terrible things’ that happened<p>Scott Morrison has said “sorry” to Brittany Higgins during a parliamentary acknowledgement of victims of bullying, harassment and sexual assaults in the parliamentary workplace.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here,” he told parliament.</p>
<p>“The place that should have been a place for safety and contribution, turned out to be a nightmare.” </p>
<p>He said he was also sorry for those who had endured similar things before her in parliament house. </p>
<p>But Higgins had had “the courage to speak, and so here we are. We are sorry for all of these things, and in doing so, each of us take on accountability for change”.</p>
<p>The acknowledgement, made on behalf of a cross-party taskforce and reflecting the parliament, was read to both houses by their presiding officers. </p>
<p>In the House of Representatives, opposition leader Anthony Albanese, Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Greens leader Adam Bandt spoke, as did Zali Steggall, member of Warringah on behalf of the crossbenchers. </p>
<p>The statement said: “We acknowledge the unacceptable history of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces”. Such behaviour was unacceptable and wrong, “and we say sorry”. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1490892659703320577"}"></div></p>
<p>Higgins watched from the gallery, one of a handful of activists and advocates. Her partner David Sharaz tweeted the women were “last minute invites”. Parliament house is currently closed to the public.</p>
<p>Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame, who was not present in the chamber, tweeted: “How about some proactive, preventative measures and not just these performative, last-minute bandaid electioneering stunts?” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1490857732563701760"}"></div></p>
<p>Morrison said the review into parliament house culture by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins had found “generations of culture, in this place and in the building before it, of bullying and harassment”.</p>
<p>“A power imbalance over that time that has been exploited. And that exploitation, abuse and harassment has played itself out through terrible traumatic and harrowing experiences. The harassment of staff, particularly female staff, as well as the harassment of female members and senators.”</p>
<p>This had to change and was changing, Morrison said. </p>
<p>Albanese also paid special tribute to Higgins and her courage. </p>
<p>“You have torn through a silence that has acted as the life support system for the most odious of status quos,” he said.</p>
<p>Albanese said to everyone who took part in the Jenkins review that their action “took a level of courage that you should never have needed to show. But you did, and we thank
you for it. </p>
<p>"We also acknowledge everyone who has experienced misconduct but could not take part. Indeed, there are many who are not ready to speak and perhaps never will be. </p>
<p>"I hope that you can take some heart from knowing that this very institution that failed you is at last acknowledging your hurt. Most importantly, we are sorry. On
behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I am sorry.”</p>
<p>“We are committing to change.”</p>
<p>Albanese said Higgins, Tame and others had “found the strength to lift the weight of their own experience and hold it high until no one could look away”. </p>
<p>Higgins and Tame will make a joint appearance at the National Press Club on Wednesday.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scott Morrison has said “sorry” to Brittany Higgins during a parliamentary acknowledgement of victims of bullying, harassment and sexual assaults in the parliamentary workplace.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1731532021-12-21T20:50:36Z2021-12-21T20:50:36ZIn 2021 #MeToo finally made it to #Auspol – what happens next?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436844/original/file-20211210-25-1h2hxsg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It has been a momentous year in Australia as the #MeToo movement made its way across the globe and into Australian federal politics.</p>
<p>After years of silence and rumours, federal parliament was forced to grapple with its “man problem”. </p>
<p>It feels like we have seen history being made, but will 2021 result in permanent change? </p>
<h2>2021: a momentous year</h2>
<p>Grace Tame, a survivor of child sexual assault, set the tone for 2021 when she was named Australian of the Year in January for her role in raising public awareness about the impacts of sexual violence. A few weeks later, inspired by Tame, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins said she was raped by a colleague in a ministerial office in March 2019 (the man accused <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/sep/16/bruce-lehrmann-to-plead-not-guilty-to-alleged-sexual-assault-of-brittany-higgins">denies</a> any sexual activity took place).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Grace Tame speaks at the National Press Club." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436870/original/file-20211210-133881-1kdg2q6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Grace Tame adressed the National Press Club in March.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Higgins’ bravery was followed by other accusations. Within the the space of a month, former Attorney-General Christian Porter was <a href="https://theconversation.com/attorney-general-christian-porter-declares-alleged-rape-did-not-happen-and-he-wont-stand-down-156381">accused</a> of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988 (a claim he strenuously denies) and Liberal MP Andrew Laming of harassing women (a claim he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/oct/28/liberal-mp-andrew-laming-withdraws-apology-for-online-treatment-of-two-brisbane-women">also denies</a>). Video also surfaced of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-29/police-report-made-over-desk-masturbation-scandal/100105650">staffers</a> masturbating on the desks of women MPs.</p>
<p>The government’s initial response was not encouraging. In fact, Higgins said she was <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/brittany-higgins-says-scott-morrison-s-victim-blaming-rhetoric-after-her-rape-allegation-is-very-distressing/085725d1-e71c-4312-a767-8c4419742148">distressed</a> by Morrison’s “continued victim-blaming rhetoric”. </p>
<p>On March 15, more than 100,000 Australians participated in the March4Justice rallies to protest sexual assault and harassment in politics, while calling for an end to gendered violence. As an organiser of the Canberra contingent, I witnessed palpable anger but saw hope in the overwhelming desire for change. </p>
<p>But the public anger and ensuring debate had its faults. As Indigenous Studies Professor <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-public-outrage-no-vigils-australias-silence-at-violence-against-indigenous-women-158875">Bronwyn Carlson</a> has rightly observed, “there is a noticeable silence in Australia when victims of violence are Indigenous”. </p>
<h2>Not just parliament</h2>
<p>Elite private schools also came under fire for what is known as the “<a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7535895/we-have-kate-jenkins-instructions-now-we-smash-the-house/">misogyny pipeline</a>” – whereby privileged boys follow a trajectory from expensive single-sex private schools to elite universities and then powerful professions, where they circulate with each other and reinforce their values. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-morrison-governments-response-to-sexual-assault-claims-cost-it-the-next-election-156939">Could the Morrison government's response to sexual assault claims cost it the next election?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In February, former private school student Chanel Contos spearheaded a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/15/do-they-even-know-they-did-this-to-us-why-i-launched-the-school-sexual-assault-petition">petition</a> demanding sexual consent education in Australian schools, inspiring over 5,000 victim-survivors to anonymously share stories of teenage sexual assault.</p>
<p>A common thread in these events is the abuse of power and entitlement in the hands of elite white men.</p>
<h2>A fundamental shift?</h2>
<p>Given all these shocking revelations and sustained public attention and debate, has there been a fundamental shift in the way we talk about gender, inequality, and sexual violence? </p>
<p>Parliament – especially under the Coalition – has certainly faced a reckoning this year, but it is very hard to argue there has been concrete change as a result (yet). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks at the women's safety summit." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436871/original/file-20211210-141979-12h0hei.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Morrison government held a national summit on violence against women in September.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison claims to take these issues seriously, yet he has made some serious blunders, from begrudgingly <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/today/rachel-withers/2021/16/2021/1613444526/father">empathising</a> with Higgins only after his wife convinced him to “think about [it] as a father first”, to responding to the March4Justice protests by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-16/bullets-women-march-4-justice-scott-morrison/13251804">stating</a> protesters should be grateful they weren’t “met with bullets”. </p>
<p>Even during his address at the Women’s Safety Summit, he <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-06/womens-safety-summit-domestic-violence-scott-morrison/100436862">came under fire</a> for retelling survivors’ private disclosures of sexual assault. This was <a href="https://twitter.com/TamePunk/status/1434678579485298689?s=20">criticised</a> as looking like an attempt to seem genuine, by using other people’s trauma.</p>
<h2>Parliament’s big opportunity</h2>
<p>Morrison has created new ministerial positions, such as Women’s Safety Minister and Women’s Economic Security Minister. He has also launched multiple inquiries into parliamentary work culture, including the recently released review by Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins. </p>
<p>The Set the Standard <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/ahrc_set_the_standard_2021.pdf">report</a> was handed down at the end of November. It revealed that one in two of those currently working in parliament have experienced bullying, sexual harassment, or sexual assault. </p>
<p>The report contains 28 independent, expert recommendations to improve the culture at parliament and make it safe and healthy for those who work there. This includes targets to increase gender balance among parliamentarians, a new office of parliament staffing and culture and a code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-jenkins-review-has-28-recommendations-to-fix-parliaments-toxic-culture-will-our-leaders-listen-172858">The Jenkins review has 28 recommendations to fix parliament's toxic culture – will our leaders listen?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But it remains to be seen if they will be implemented. Jenkins’ previous report on sexual harassment, Respect@Work, was ignored for more than a year after its release, before the Morrison government announced it would only agree to half the recommendations. </p>
<h2>What’s in store for 2022?</h2>
<p>The fundamental shift has occurred outside parliament. People in power are not controlling the agenda or the public attitude when it comes to gender equality and violence against women. Higgins and Tame, along with many women journalists, <a href="https://theconversation.com/now-for-some-better-news-9-australians-fighting-for-gender-equality-and-making-a-difference-158127">activists, and advocates</a>, are now shaping public conversation and have inspired people across Australia to push for change. </p>
<p>As in our efforts to combat climate change, we are moving on, whether the government is with us or not. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters at Parliament House during the 2021 March4Justice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436872/original/file-20211210-141178-s2692u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More protests are expected ahead of the federal election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, what’s in store for 2022? The organisers of the March4Justice protests have announced first anniversary marches on February 27 to put further pressure on this government in the lead-up to the federal election. If the government fails to implement recommendations from Set the Standard, expect this to be an election flashpoint. </p>
<p>However, identifying and acknowledging the problem is just the first step, and one that is still currently very much in progress as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-12-02/alan-tudge-stands-aside-amid-abuse-allegations/100669592">more allegations</a> come to light. </p>
<p>The next stage is to create a more inclusive, diverse, and respectful workplace for everyone at parliament house – this will flow on to the laws that are made and the policy responses provided.</p>
<p>Making this happen is not easy, but it’s not a mystery either. Implementing every single recommendation from the Set the Standards report is the obvious place to start.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173153/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blair Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It feels like history was made in 2021. But it is hard to argue there has been concrete change at Parliament House … yet.Blair Williams, Research Fellow, Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1722382021-12-12T19:10:44Z2021-12-12T19:10:44ZFarewell to 2021 in federal politics, the year of living in disappointment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437037/original/file-20211212-142574-qccngn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=137%2C0%2C3706%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wes Mountain/The Conversation</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some will recall it as 2021. For more, it will be Year 2 of COVID. Either way, it will have been a time of disappointment for many. And the nation’s politicians need to bear a large share of the responsibility for that feeling.</p>
<p>It’s easy to imagine a different scenario. As 2020 ended, there were disappointments, too, with parts of Sydney in lockdown. But most imagined that, with vaccines on the way, our future would be brighter.</p>
<p>While there had been a tragic second wave of infections in Victoria that reflected poorly on its Labor government, the country’s decision-makers had taken advantage of Australia being an island nation, imposed external and internal border controls, and established an effective tracing system. </p>
<p>There had been some failures, and several hundred fatalities, and many Australians abroad were treated harshly. But governments succeeded in their primary duty of preserving our safety, and they seemed to have done well in propping up the economy in tough circumstances.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436060/original/file-20211207-19-1h4xd5f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">By the end of 2020, mistakes had been made – particularly in Victoria – but by and large governments had protected Australians from the worst of the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What an opportunity this scenario offered! </p>
<p>An efficient vaccination program delivered rapidly in the first half of 2021, targeting vulnerable groups first, then extending quickly to the rest, would have provided substantial protection from COVID’s Delta strain when it arrived. The construction of quarantine facilities could have allowed the safe return of Australians stranded overseas.</p>
<p>Instead, the federal government mismanaged vaccine procurement, muddled its messaging, did nothing much about quarantine and stuffed up the “rollout” – both of Australia’s national dictionaries <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-17/australian-word-of-the-year-is-strollout-referencing-vaccines/100626698">embraced “strollout”</a> as their Word of the Year. </p>
<p>Millions unnecessarily spent much of 2021 locked down. Some paid with their lives, and others with their health, jobs and businesses. The economy has suffered another multi-billion-dollar shock.</p>
<p>It would be easy to blame the Morrison government. After all, its indolence and squalor became increasingly plain during 2021.</p>
<p>But there is something more alarming at the heart of these failures: a basic frailty in national government. So energetic when chasing down “welfare cheats” and in persecuting whistleblowers, Australia’s federal government is just no longer very good at the hands-on delivery of anything of serious complexity.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-australias-vaccination-bungle-becomes-clear-morrisons-political-pain-is-only-just-beginning-158704">As Australia's vaccination bungle becomes clear, Morrison's political pain is only just beginning</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The JobKeeper scheme acclaimed as a national saviour in 2020 was revealed this year as an <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australians-want-jobkeeper-overpayments-given-back-to-taxpayers-20210827-p58mff.html">efficient scheme</a> whereby the already filthy rich could become even filthier and richer.</p>
<p>Unleashed in haste, it lacked basic mechanisms for checking whether those claiming its benefits had actually suffered their anticipated losses. The result has been an unprecedented looting of the country’s treasury, all within the law.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436061/original/file-20211207-25-361n9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hailed in 2020 as a national saviour, JobKeeper was soon revealed to be a way for the already rich to become even richer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>JobKeeper contributed to a larger narrative that has gathered a hold: that the Morrison government lacks honesty and integrity. Its resistance to creating a proper anti-corruption commission is widely seen as prima facie evidence of its own fear of what one would find. </p>
<p>Scott Morrison instead raises <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/07/legal-experts-condemn-scott-morrisons-continuing-attacks-on-icac-as-disgraceful-and-stupid">the furphy of ICAC’s treatment</a> of the former New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, as an objection to a federal body on anything like that model.</p>
<p>Australian conservatives and some on the Labor side, too, have long resolutely opposed the concept of a bill of rights, yet now we find just one right being elevated above others – religious freedom – which in the hands of the government amounts to an enhanced right to discriminate against sexual minorities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-religious-discrimination-bill-will-cause-damage-to-australian-society-that-will-be-difficult-to-heal-172303">New religious discrimination bill will cause damage to Australian society that will be difficult to heal</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Predictably, its effort has done little more than draw adverse attention to the expansive right that already exists to do just that in the Sex Discrimination Act, the result of lobbying of the Hawke Labor government by the churches.</p>
<p>The Morrison government is certainly interested in accountability, but not in the accountability of politicians to voters. Its preferred version is the accountability of the people to their political masters. So, far from protecting whistleblowers against government illegality and wrongdoing, it prosecutes them with vigour. It sought to impose US Republican-inspired <a href="https://theconversation.com/voter-id-is-a-bad-idea-heres-why-170777">voter ID laws</a> to deal with a problem that only it seems to believe exists. </p>
<p>And it wants to <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-governments-planned-anti-troll-laws-wont-help-most-victims-of-online-trolling-172743">make it easier</a> for politicians to sue members of the public who say objectionable things about them on social media.</p>
<p>The same politicians who tell you that they believe resolutely in protecting women’s right to be free of sexual harassment maintain a workplace in Canberra, with its adjuncts in their electorate offices, that would disgrace the most rancid feudal regime.</p>
<p>Women have been harassed and even assaulted with impunity. Ministers have slept with staffers. Staffers have filmed themselves masturbating on desks. There is no recourse for the victims of this regime unless, like former Liberal staffers Brittany Higgins and Rachelle Miller, they go to the media.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436069/original/file-20211207-140267-y338zb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women have been treated disgracefully within Parliament House. This year some brave women, such as Brittany Higgins, called it out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reckoning in these matters has arrived, but the prime minister repeatedly displayed his inability to understand what is at stake. On one occasion, he began a media conference expressing his sympathies with the plight of women but ended up issuing a thinly veiled threat to the female journalist most prominent in reporting of the issue.</p>
<p>Which brings us to Morrison himself. </p>
<p>The idea that he routinely lies now clings to him like a politician to a freebie. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-scott-morrison-caught-in-catch-22-over-the-issue-of-his-integrity-171750">extraordinary attack</a> on him by French President Emmanuel Macron, over the mismanagement of the submarine contract and the AUKUS agreement, confirmed a sense of Morrison as a small-time Sydney politician morally and intellectually out of his depth, and lacking in the necessary gravitas or judgment to deal with complex international affairs and major world leaders.</p>
<p>It seemed odd, at the beginning of 2021, that we still didn’t have a single book about him. Was he too uninteresting to bother? </p>
<p>Now we have several, but the turn in Morrison’s fortunes was so rapid that it defeated the efforts of authors to keep up. When Wayne Errington and Peter Van Onselen’s How Good is Scott Morrison? went off to the printers, the authors were convinced he was a shoo-in for the next election. By the time it appeared in the bookshops, the edited extract that appeared in The Australian suggested they were <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/once-a-winner/">rather less sure</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/is-morrison-gaining-a-reputation-for-untrustworthiness-the-answer-could-have-serious-implications-for-the-election-171816">Is Morrison gaining a reputation for untrustworthiness? The answer could have serious implications for the election</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The year saw a remarkable leaching of Morrison’s standing and authority, not least in relation to state and territory leaders. </p>
<p>But they too had their problems: Berejiklian lost her job when ICAC announced it had launched an investigation into her conduct. Daniel Andrews in Victoria suffered a serious back injury at the beginning of the year and faced large “freedom” protesters waving the Eureka Flag at the end of it. Mark McGowan seems a little less shiny than a year ago, as Western Australia’s severe border restrictions extend into 2022.</p>
<p>And we have a federal election to come. </p>
<p>Labor leader Anthony Albanese, having kept his powder dry for years, is beginning to drip-release policies, seeking just enough distance over issues such as climate policy for product differentiation without frightening the horses. He seems to wish to slip quietly into office rather as numerous Labor state and territory opposition leaders have done over the past 25 years. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/436070/original/file-20211207-141178-hxpgi7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Labor’s Anthony Albanese: hoping to slip quietly into office?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Morrison is now transformed from goofy Scomo into biblical Moses, leading his people out of the COVID desert into the Promised Land of “Freedom”. </p>
<p>But he still must try keeping the increasingly wild right flank of his Coalition government solid while attending to the threat that independent and Labor candidates pose to metropolitan Liberal seats.</p>
<p>His government ended the year by losing two ministers to scandals, with another announcing his retirement at the next election. Morrison’s grip on the Coalition party room was now so loose that it called into question his grip on the House of Representatives itself. </p>
<p>The election result seems less certain than in the months before the 2019 election when it was all rather obvious that Labor and Bill Shorten were heading for a famous victory. </p>
<p>Readers will understand if I refrain from offering a prediction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Bongiorno does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whether it’s been the vaccine rollout, a federal ICAC, political scandals or the treatment of women, the Morrison government has had a shocking year. But will it pay for it in 2022?Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1728582021-11-30T06:39:37Z2021-11-30T06:39:37ZThe Jenkins review has 28 recommendations to fix parliament’s toxic culture – will our leaders listen?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434622/original/file-20211130-27-ifgxm0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of Brittany Higgins’ shocking allegations about being raped in a ministers’ office by a colleague, Prime Minister Scott Morrison initiated <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/come-in-spinner/">multiple inquiries</a>.</p>
<p>Arguably, the most significant was the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/CPWReview">independent review</a> into parliamentary workplaces, headed up by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-03-05/independent-inquiry-established-kate-jenkins-brittany-higgins/13191250">Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins</a> and supported by Labor and the crossbench. </p>
<p>The review has been underway since March, speaking to current and former MPs and employees at parliament house and its associated workplaces – such as electorate offices and the press gallery. On Tuesday, the 450-page report, <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/set-standard-2021">Set the Standard</a>, was released. </p>
<p>As Jenkins observed, parliament house should be something “Australians look to with pride”. </p>
<p>This report represents a wholesale change strategy, and calls for leadership and accountability across a diverse parliamentary “ecosystem”. This new roadmap is grounded in the testimony and experiences of more than 1,700 contributors, including 147 former and current parliamentarians.</p>
<h2>What did the report find?</h2>
<p>The report included a survey of current parliamentarians and people currently working at parliament house (such as staffers, journalists and public servants). More than 900 people responded. </p>
<p>It found more than 37% of people currently in parliamentary workplaces have personally experienced bullying in a parliamentary workplace. As one interviewee noted: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Frequently, like at least every week, the advice was go and cry in the toilet so that nobody can see you, because that’s what it’s like up here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It also found 33% of people currently in parliamentary workplaces have personally experienced sexual harassment in a parliamentary workplace. As one interviewee reported: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Aspiring male politicians who thought nothing of, in one case, picking you up, kissing you on the lips, lifting you up, touching you, pats on the bottom, comments about appearance, you know, the usual. The point I make with that… was the culture allowed it, encouraged it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The report notes a devastating impact on people as a result of these experiences. This included an impact on their mental and physical health, confidence and ability to do their job, as well as their future career, “these experiences also caused significant distress and shame”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434665/original/file-20211130-23-1mmzzah.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has been working on the parliamentary review since March.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Himbrechts/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The drivers behind this behaviour</h2>
<p>A critical part of the report looks at the drivers which contribute to misconduct in parliamentary workplaces. Participants also described risk factors which interact with these drivers to endanger their workplaces. </p>
<p>The drivers include: </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>power imbalances</strong>, where participants described a focus on the pursuit and exercise of power as well as insecure employment and high levels of power and discretion in relation to employment</li>
<li><strong>gender inequality</strong>, including a lack of women in senior roles </li>
<li><strong>lack of accountability</strong>, including limited recourse for those who experience misconduct</li>
<li><strong>entitlement and exclusion</strong>, or “a male, stale and pale monopoly on power in [the] building” </li>
</ul>
<p>The risk factors include: </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>unclear standards of behaviour</strong>, leading to confusion about the standards that apply </li>
<li><strong>a leadership deficit</strong>, such as a prioritisation of political gain over people management</li>
<li><strong>workplace dynamics</strong>, a “win at all costs” and high-pressure and high-stakes environment</li>
<li><strong>social conditions of work</strong>, including “significant” alcohol use and a “work hard, play hard” culture.</li>
<li><strong>employment structures and systems</strong>, such as a lack of transparent and merit-based recruitment.</li>
</ul>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>There are 28 recommendations in the report. </p>
<p>They include a statement of acknowledgement from parliamentary leaders, recognising people’s experiences of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault in parliamentary workplaces, targets to increase gender balance among parliamentarians and a new office of parliament staffing and culture. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434633/original/file-20211130-28-66j48f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was briefed on the report before it was made public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The report also wants to see the professionalisation of management practices for parliamentary staff and a code of conduct for parliamentarians and their staff. An independent commission would enforce these standards. </p>
<p>The report also calls for a new parliamentary health and well-being service.</p>
<h2>Where to from here</h2>
<p>Two key press conferences – from Morrison and Jenkins – accompanied the release of the Set the Standard report. But the change expected by the report requires much more than words – it requires concerted action.</p>
<p>Parliament now needs to endorse and implement a number of key accountability mechanisms to ensure that, as an institution, it ensures all building occupants are safe and respected at work. These include the office on parliamentary staffing and culture and independent parliamentary standards commission.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-decides-when-parliament-sits-and-what-happens-if-it-doesnt-172861">Who decides when parliament sits and what happens if it doesn't?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In addition, the report calls on the parliament itself to continue reflecting and thinking through appropriate changes. For example, the parliamentary work schedule is shown to drive a workplace culture that values “presence and endurance” over remote working and flexibility. Sitting in the chamber at 9pm does not necessarily equal productivity, particularly when it is propped up – among political staffers – with alcohol. </p>
<p>There is no simple solution here. Some argue long hours in parliament house mean longer periods away from parliament, in the electorate, with families. Others argue the work day should end – as it does in other workplaces – before dinner. Jenkins recommends parliament does its own review of the sitting schedule. Hopefully this will create “buy in” from parliamentarians, but reviews like this have been undertaken before (and have not led to cultural change).</p>
<p>For this report to lead to meaningful change, everyone in all the many, varied parliamentary workplaces has to take responsibility for the systemic inequality that drives toxic workplace behaviour in the building. </p>
<p>Responsibility is not equally distributed though. Morrison may call for a bipartisan approach, but he currently leads the government responsible for instigating the inquiry and implementing its recommendations. </p>
<p>His challenge will be in convincing the electorate he means it when he says he wants to fix this “very, very serious problem”. </p>
<hr>
<p><strong><em>If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172858/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sonia Palmieri provided expert advice and contributed to the Review.</span></em></p>The review has been underway since March, speaking to current and former MPs and employees at parliament house.Sonia Palmieri, Gender Policy Fellow, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1685672021-09-28T20:11:58Z2021-09-28T20:11:58ZThe missing women of Australian politics — research shows the toll of harassment, abuse and stalking<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423444/original/file-20210927-21-l4liut.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We know Australian politics has a “woman problem” — the figures speak for themselves. Only 38% of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/australia-datablog/2021/mar/31/drilling-down-into-the-gender-balance-in-australias-parliament">all federal</a> MPs are women, and there is a continued dearth of women in leadership positions. </p>
<p>We are also hearing increasing stories of the discrimination, sexism and outright abuse women face when forging a political career. Whether it be a junior political staffer or Australia’s first female prime minister. </p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.emilyslist.org.au/julia_gillard_next_generation_internship_report_2020_21">research</a>, done with the support of ALP-affiliated women’s organisation EMILY’s List Australia, examines the impact that violence against women in politics has had on the progress of women’s political leadership in Australia. </p>
<p>It investigates why it happens, how widespread it is and what the consequences are. </p>
<h2>Speaking to women in politics</h2>
<p>I conducted interviews with nine current and former MPs, election candidates, and volunteers and staffers from the ALP in 2021.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Pictures of former and current female Labor MPs at Parliament House in Canberra." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423448/original/file-20210928-13-19mfz4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We can easily see the high profile examples of women who have ‘made it’ to Canberra — but not those who have abandoned their career plans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>I also ran an anonymous survey open to women with experience at all levels of government: local, state and federal. Women across party lines participated in they survey. While the sample size of the survey is small (30), women wrote lengthy statements about their experiences. </p>
<p>My research charts women’s political careers from when they are girls interested in politics, to becoming volunteers and staffers, elections candidates, and finally members of parliament. </p>
<p>I found that at each stage, experiences of abuse and harassment force some women to abandon their aspirations for political leadership and at times, a political career entirely. </p>
<h2>Harassment, bullying, assault</h2>
<p>Many people start their formal political involvement as party volunteers or staffers. Violence and harassment were widespread among volunteers and employees of political organisations I surveyed. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>83% of respondents said that they had been harassed, intimidated and verbally abused in the course of their work </p></li>
<li><p>77% reported being bullied </p></li>
<li><p>43% had been subjected to inappropriate sexual advances and behaviour</p></li>
<li><p>30% had been physically assaulted</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The abuse mostly occurred within the workplace itself, or at a work-related event. In most cases, the identity of the perpetrator was known to the respondent. Unsurprisingly, 74% reported abuse and harassment had a negative impact on on their interest in continuing a career in politics.</p>
<p>As one respondent explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Verbal and physical harassment while working as a campaign volunteer gets very tiresome. After working on ten years of campaigns the negatives start to outweigh the positives. I have withdrawn from political participation as a result of constant online and real-life abuse.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What happens if you try to run for parliament?</h2>
<p>If they were nominated as a candidate, some interviewees described facing threatening intimidation tactics from other members of their party to discourage them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expect-sexism-a-gender-politics-expert-reads-julia-gillards-women-and-leadership-142725">'Expect sexism': a gender politics expert reads Julia Gillard's Women and Leadership</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This includes bullying behaviour, threats of isolation and back-listing within the party if they do not withdraw from the pre-selection process. Interviewees also described being “backgrounded” against or having rumours spread about them. This was particularly the case when they challenged favoured candidates or the fixed outcome of a pre-selection </p>
<p>As one interviewee explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When someone comes up out the blue, it threatens these predetermined outcomes. Because egos are on the line, and it has been done this way for a long time, people just use these intimidation tactics. They feel like they can justify that as politics. But it is very macho style of factional politics.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Candidates who are pre-selected go on to face abuse from members of the public and supporters of opposing candidates. </p>
<h2>Expecting abuse in office from the public</h2>
<p>If they survived this and were elected to public office, the threatening messages and abuse women MPs face from the public is relentless, particularly on social media. </p>
<p>In part, this abuse is the product of having a public profile. However, while male MPs also receive abuse, women are more often subjected to explicitly sexual and violent threats. In 2016, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (a global body of parliaments around the world) <a href="https://www.ipu.org/resources/publications/issue-briefs/2016-10/sexism-harassment-and-violence-against-women-parliamentarians">found</a> this abuse is targeted at women MPs to discourage them from being vocal and politically active.</p>
<p>The women MPs interviewed said abuse is so normalised as to be expected in public office. Some reported having stalkers, as well as needing police patrols and close personal protection. More than one MP reported moving house because of the ongoing threat of violence. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You have to ensure that you are taking it seriously, particularly if the threats involve your office and staff. The threats are serious, because one day someone could lose their mind and try to kill you.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Harassed by other MPs</h2>
<p>They also experience bullying and harassment from other MPs within parliament house. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former Liberal MP Julia Banks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423452/original/file-20210928-17-14rlz7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Liberal MP Julia Banks has spoken of bullying and harassment during her time in Canberra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For women MPs, harassment takes the form of repeated intimidating behaviour and unwanted sexualised attention. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is one federal MP who has spoken about this <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/30/sarah-hanson-young-accuses-david-leyonhjelm-of-sexism-at-defamation-trial">publicly</a>. Recently, former Liberal MP Julia Banks <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-05/former-liberal-mp-julia-banks-on-her-time-in-parliament/100263928">described an unwanted sexual advance</a> from a cabinet minister. Culturally and linguistically diverse women interviewed reported additional sexualised fetishism and attention. </p>
<p>As one interviewee described: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There were men who wolf-whistled, “Look at you, you look so good today”. I don’t take it just because I am a woman.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>The missing women</h2>
<p>Survey research already shows many young women <a href="https://www.plan.org.au/publications/she-can-lead/">think</a> women MPs are treated unfairly by the media and male MPs. And that parliament house <a href="https://www.plan.org.au/publications/we-can-lead/">does not</a> have a safe culture. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423445/original/file-20210927-27-1j5fl8s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ allegations of rape have lead to an overhaul of workplace safety at parliament house.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The poor reputation of politics discourages girls from choosing a career in politics in the first place. They are questioned by their friends and family about whether they will be safe working for a parliamentarian or political party.</p>
<p>One interviewee described her recent conversations:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have actually had young women say to me, “I was so excited when I got offered a job as a staffer. [But] my parents said to me ‘Why would you go and work there? It is not safe.’”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Interview participants also expressed finding it difficult to encourage young women into a career in politics, knowing they could face abuse:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I find it really hard at the moment with what is going on with the Brittany Higgins story to be able to say those things I used to say. Which is, “it is a really honourable role to be a member of parliament. We need more really good female leaders. You should really consider stepping up. I would be happy to mentor you.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So, the violence against and harassment of women in politics perpetuates itself to undermine the progress of women’s political leadership and representation in Australia.</p>
<p>My research suggest there are untold numbers of women who should have been in positions of political influence and leadership, but were put off. </p>
<p>They are the missing women of Australian politics.</p>
<h2>How does this change?</h2>
<p>My report makes 27 recommendations to reduce the prevalence of abuse and harassment against women in political organisations and politics more broadly. These include: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>young women and girls must be targeted to become engaged in politics. They need to be shown that they already hold the personal qualities needed to be a political leader (i.e. they don’t need to fit a “macho mould”) </p></li>
<li><p>all political parties should make not engaging in intimidation, bullying and harassment a requirement of receiving party endorsement</p></li>
<li><p>political parties should review its pre-selection rules in order to promote transparency and competitiveness of contests, and reduce the ability of intimidation and bullying tactics to be used</p></li>
<li><p>safety guidelines for candidates in elections should be released by police forces and electoral commissions in Australia</p></li>
<li><p>political parties should provide online self-defence training to MPs and their staff to tackle online abuse.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>My interviewees were also adamant there must be robust complaints mechanisms and support structures within political parties and the Australian parliament. It is noted the new 24 hour complaints mechanism that launched last week for MPs and staff has already been criticised by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins as <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/brittany-higgins-says-new-complaints-system-does-not-go-far-enough/news-story/0d2abeedd3fbfa79d063a6b4cacf31c6">inadequate</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-kate-jenkins-on-the-womens-agenda-167548">Politics with Michelle Grattan: Kate Jenkins on the women's agenda</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Ultimately, we must raise our demands and expectations of each other and our political leaders. Public office should be a place for people of the highest character and as citizens we should expect no less. </p>
<p>As a community we can no longer accept that enduring abuse and harassment is the cost of doing politics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168567/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Medha Majumdar conducted this research as part of the Julia Gillard Next Generation Internship 2020-21 with EMILY's List Australia. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party.
Medha receives funding from the Australian Government and the Westpac Scholars Trust to undertake her PhD research. </span></em></p>Research charting women’s political careers from the moment they are first interested shows they experience abuse at each stage — and this forces some to abandon their ambitions.Medha Majumdar, Fox International Fellow, Yale University; PhD Candidate, Australian National University, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1618842021-07-29T19:58:48Z2021-07-29T19:58:48ZIf Australia is serious about fixing the culture at parliament, this is the code of conduct we need<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413663/original/file-20210729-15-96mga6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has been rocked by serious allegations of sexual assault and harassment that have poured out of parliament house this year. </p>
<p>In February, former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins <a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-scott-morrison-dealt-poorly-with-a-young-womans-shocking-story-155570">revealed</a> a toxic workplace culture for political staffers when she spoke about her own alleged assault. As others have come forward with their stories, we have witnessed a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-you-afraid-of-scomo-australian-women-are-angry-and-the-morrison-government-needs-to-listen-157134">reckoning</a> about sexism and misogyny in our political culture.</p>
<p>In response, the Morrison government initiated a range of reviews. The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/parliamentary-workplace-review-brittany-higgins-training-safety/100323610">Foster review</a> into serious incidents at parliament was finished in June. This week, the government <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/parliamentary-workplace-review-brittany-higgins-training-safety/100323610">accepted</a> all ten recommendations — including an independent complaints process. However, this will not be enough make parliament safe. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-brittany-higgins-will-the-foster-review-prevent-another-serious-incident-at-parliament-162182">After Brittany Higgins: will the Foster review prevent another 'serious incident' at parliament?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Attention now needs to shift to the work of sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins, who is conducting an <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/have-your-say/independent-review-commonwealth-parliamentary-workplaces">independent review</a> into parliament’s workplace culture. Submissions for her landmark review close on Saturday. </p>
<h2>Experts and MPs come together to find solutions</h2>
<p>Earlier this month, with colleagues from the ANU’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, I hosted a summit to develop a model code of conduct to make parliament a safer and more inclusive workplace. </p>
<p>We brought together former and current politicians, political staffers, national and international academic experts, and key stakeholders (such as the Community and Public Sector Union and <a href="https://ywca-canberra.org.au/">YWCA</a>) to consider how we can address bullying, intimidation, and harassment within the halls of government. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pink sunset lights up then sky over Parliament House in Canberra." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413667/original/file-20210729-23-jfsh8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Jenkins review is due to hand in its final report to the government in November.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Academics offered a scholarly perspective on the impact of gendered norms and culture as an obstacle to change, while staffers and politicians shared personal experiences of sexism, racism and bullying in their careers. This included former-Liberal cabinet minister Sharman Stone, ACT Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee, Labor MP Anne Aly, Greens senator Larissa Waters, and Independent MP Helen Haines. The range of MPs present made it clear how this issue crosses party lines. </p>
<p>Three main messages emerged from the discussion. </p>
<h2>1. A code of conduct is necessary</h2>
<p>The summit participants unanimously agreed a set of principles is necessary if we are to change the current state of workplace relations in parliament. </p>
<p>With this aim in mind, we have submitted a <a href="https://giwl.anu.edu.au/events/parliament-gendered-workplace-towards-new-code-conduct">model code of conduct</a> to the Jenkins inquiry. Our proposal goes further than the Foster recommendations and provides clear guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, and treatment of others. It also borrows elements from comparable documents in other countries, notably <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/470204963/Proposed-Code-of-Conduct-for-MPs#from_embed">New Zealand</a> and the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/lords-committees/privileges/UKParliamentBehaviourCode.pdf">United Kingdom</a>. It includes seven clear commitments:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>ensure parliament meets the highest standards of integrity, courtesy and mutual respect</p></li>
<li><p>make parliament a safe and inclusive workplace where diversity is valued</p></li>
<li><p>show bullying and harassment, including sexual harassment, are unacceptable</p></li>
<li><p>speak up about any unacceptable behaviour </p></li>
<li><p>act professionally towards others </p></li>
<li><p>participate in training on harassment prevention and office management </p></li>
<li><p>understand unacceptable behaviour will be dealt with seriously and independently with effective sanctions.</p></li>
</ol>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/now-for-some-better-news-9-australians-fighting-for-gender-equality-and-making-a-difference-158127">Now for some better news: 9 Australians fighting for gender equality and making a difference</a>
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<p>For the code to succeed, it must be binding and apply to all, including politicians, staffers, journalists, visitors, volunteers, interns and students. The implementation of the code and handling of complaints must be overseen by an independent body. </p>
<p>The independent complaint-handling authority must be able to investigate both current and historical allegations (the Foster review recommends the latter should <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/parliamentary-workplace-review-brittany-higgins-training-safety/100323610">remain the responsibility</a> of the Finance Department). The complaints process must be flexible, victim-focused and trauma-informed.</p>
<p>The code must be supported by training in its implementation as well as in harassment prevention, bullying, office management and workplace roles and responsibilities more generally. This training must be mandatory for all workers.</p>
<h2>2. We need cultural change</h2>
<p>An entrenched culture of sexism persists inside parliament house. In addition to adopting a code of conduct, we desperately need to change the broader cultural norms of Australian political life. As former prime minister Julia Gillard wrote in her 2014 memoir: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>[since] politics at senior levels in our nation has almost always been the pursuit of men, the assumptions of politics have been defined around men’s lives not women’s.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Certain <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2017.1374347">stereotypically masculine qualities</a>, such as strength, authority, confrontation, aggression, and determination, are therefore prioritised and accepted in politics, These traits are often on full display during question time. As Stone noted in her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNiffwzMAvU&list=PLdcyKEy0pKtK9ap6e3dF8WopTxbEvkjGc&index=4&t=1509s">speech</a> at the summit:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Question time is one of the worst reinforcers of the masculine, [foregrounding the] aggression, screaming, [and] yelling of men [with] women echoing … that behaviour because [it] is seen as a ‘strong’ performance. And it’ll be written up by the media as a strong performance. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stone added such behaviour is not only a waste of time, it discourages women who aspire to enter politics. </p>
<p>Question time is also a window into what happens behind closed doors, exposing the kind of behaviour that is accepted within parliament. Combined with the rife power imbalances between politicians and staffers, such behaviour inevitably contributes to a culture of bullying and entitlement. </p>
<h2>3. We need diversity</h2>
<p>Our political culture also requires a greater recognition and inclusion of diversity. </p>
<p>Parliament is not just a “boys’ club”, it is <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australia-s-new-parliament-is-no-more-multicultural-than-the-last-one">a white boys’ club</a>. It has been built by and for powerful white men and encourages a sense of entitlement — to spaces, roles and even bodies — protected from any accountability. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1416964577657384965"}"></div></p>
<p>During the summit, Lee spoke of experience as the first Korean Australian woman in Australian politics. She reflected on the lack of diversity in this history of “another white man after another white man.” From the Labor side, Aly pointed to the lack of diverse candidates in the 2019 federal election, noting we “specifically [need] more women of colour in politics”.</p>
<p>If we have a parliament that is representative of Australia, this would, in turn, broaden parliamentary culture and break entrenched power relations. </p>
<p>Our model code of conduct will aid in creating a safer workplace for all in parliament, but we also need widespread and permanent change to help transform a misogynistic political culture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/161884/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blair Williams does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Politicians, staffers and academics have come together to try and address bullying and harassment at parliament house. They have three key messages.Blair Williams, Research Fellow, Global Institute for Women's Leadership (GIWL), Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.