Libby Coker (Corangamite, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I strongly support this motion and thank the member for Griffith for bringing it to the House. Three months ago, the Prime Minister labelled the conduct of the member for Bowman as disgraceful, but, despite this, the member for Bowman remains. He's still a Liberal Party representative and chair of the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training. The coalition continues to vote to keep the member for Bowman in the parliamentary role he promised to stand down from.

The member for Bowman's behaviour and attitude towards women have proven to be unacceptable, yet he continues to receive the support of the Prime Minister and his government. What the women of Australia and the women in my electorate want is a Prime Minister who shows leadership, a Prime Minister who stands up for women and a Prime Minister who respects and supports women and will condemn others who do not. Unfortunately, this Prime Minister is always prepared to put politics before principles.

We're aware of the disturbing stories that establish beyond question a character unfit to represent the people of Bowman in this House. As is so often the case, there were warnings about the kind of person the member for Bowman was long before he entered the House. The former chair of the Bowman branch had warned a senior Queensland LNP state executive about the member for Bowman. He said: 'We took a two-page document in and said we had a major problem with this bloke. He popped it in the safe and said, "Leave it with me." I never followed it up and we never heard anything more about it.' Unsurprisingly, the member has continued to behave inappropriately since that warning was issued.

The member for Bowman has viciously attacked female constituents from behind his computer screen. The Prime Minister requested that the member for Bowman apologise for these attacks, which the member for Bowman did, before undermining his own apology piece by piece. The member for Bowman used the first day back in parliament to claim he had been misrepresented, revealing through his words his complete contempt for the women he had mistreated.

The list of women who have reported untoward contact with the member for Bowman is growing by the day. A co-passenger on a flight reported:

I was deeply uncomfortable. I felt like I was trapped next to someone who was just being completely inappropriate, irrespective of their job, being completely inappropriate.

A colleague on an official trip said:

When we when we met a new group or went to a new location, it was only the young women he asked for phone numbers … not the men.

A teenager working at Taco Bell was asked by the member for Bowman to be added on Facebook. The girl said:

It wasn't a very comfortable situation. It just felt very forced and I sort of had to engage with it.

  …   …   …

I felt very creeped out.

And then the member for Bowman took a photo of a Brisbane woman's backside without her consent while she was on her knees stacking a bar fridge. That woman has since filed a formal complaint. Today the member for Bowman sits in this House, a community leader in Australia's Liberal government, at the insistence of the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister defends the member's chairmanship on the Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training.

Beyond the member for Bowman's disgraceful behaviour, this story exposes for all to see the character failings of the Prime Minister. On the alleged sexual assault of Brittany Higgins, metres from his office, the Prime Minister said he didn't know about it. On the allegations of sexual assault against the former Attorney-General, the Prime Minister said he didn't read them. In the wake of public violence against women, the Prime Minister refused to get up from his desk and meet the organisers of the March4Justice rally here in Canberra. These actions speak louder than words. The standard you walk past is the standard you accept, and the Prime Minister is prepared to ignore disgraceful behaviour because he needs the numbers in the House. What these actions reveal is a Prime Minister and Liberal and National parties that do not care enough about women. They do not respect women, and they are always prepared to put politics before principles. Now is the time for redemption, Prime Minister. Step up, do what is right by the women of Australia and by the women of my electorate and dismiss the member for Bowman.

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