Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) and the Minister for Families and Social Services (Senator Ruston) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

I doubt that the Prime Minister wanted to spend this week talking about the accusations that were aired in the FourCorners report on Monday night or in the papers today. In political life, however, you only have control over a certain number of things. You do not control the issues you face, but you do control how you respond. The Prime Minister had a choice: to stand up and exercise moral authority or to crouch down and try and duck the issue; to be big or to be small. In his press conference yesterday, the Prime Minister, sadly, chose the latter. The Prime Minister's comments sought to minimise and downplay the stories that have been told about the actions of ministers in his government. We heard that these were examples of 'human frailty', that we are all accountable for our own behaviour. What we didn't hear was a recognition of the bravery of the women who spoke up or a recognition of the importance of the parliament being a safe environment for everyone who works here or a recognition of our capacity to improve the culture of this place. The Prime Minister suggested that these were all matters from the past and so there was nothing further required from him. Yet can anyone believe that the issues about puerile back-stabbing from male party members raised by Liberal women in the WhatsApp group are in the past? I note that only last month other prominent Liberals were again calling for the Liberals to account for their failure to pre-select women.

This is a chance to show leadership. To date, the Prime Minister has not taken up that chance. No-one can pretend that poor behaviour is exclusively the preserve of members of one party. But the examples that are in the public conversation today relate to the Prime Minister's own party. That gives the Prime Minister even more capacity to exercise moral authority, to listen to women and to recognise the harm caused by cultures of bullying, harassment or sexism. Those cultures diminish the institutions that we are all here to protect. The Prime Minister has been willing to speak on accusations of improper conduct made against members of other parties or coalition partners. The greater test is how willing he is to respond to accusations made against those in his own party.

This parliament has an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to make this workplace better. No matter what side of politics you are on, we can surely agree that staff working here should feel safe and supported. The accusations of bullying that have been made today add to existing complaints about culture that have been put on the record in recent years by Liberal women, and they are serious complaints. If we want this parliament to truly embody the democratic ideals that I believe every senator in this place seeks to uphold then this parliament must be a place where women can work and contribute free from discrimination.

Women's work should be valued on its own terms. Women should not be assessed on how they look or how they behave; it is their contribution at work that should matter. In considering the issues that have been raised, I believe we need to retain focus on women and their right to participate fully in this place. There are other issues that have been raised over the course the week: adherence to family values, the potential for compromise or blackmail and the reputation of the office. These are relevant factors, but we cannot lose sight of the core obligation that we hold to the women who work here. Everyone deserves a safe workplace. This should be the primary matter of concern. We owe it to ourselves, to this institution and to the people we represent to work together to ensure that that is how this place operates.