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

So one member crossed the floor under one set of circumstances and the other member, the member for Bass, voted to bring on a debate on an integrity commission after three years of inaction by the government. Only one of these members was hauled into the Prime Minister's office and reduced to tears.

Sometimes the things someone doesn't do can tell you as much about their character as the things they do. Last week in Senate question time we learned that Mr Morrison didn't feel the need to speak to a member of the coalition whose comments in and out of the parliament have the capacity to incite violence. He simply wasn't interested; it wasn't important enough. Now the Prime Minister has some real questions to answer about why that's the case. There is also the broader question: why was Mrs Archer treated so differently from Mr Christensen and forced to speak with the Prime Minister against her will?

Two-thirds of Australian women regularly tell surveys that they don't believe they are treated equally at work. Those women may have an idea why Mr Morrison singled out Mrs Archer for special attention. They are seeing a pattern that they know all too well. Mrs Archer now has the dubious honour of joining the list of Liberal women who have publicly spoken about the way the Prime Minister, his staff and close allies have used their power against them.

The Prime Minister described the meeting as a very warm, friendly and supportive meeting. Mrs Archer has said it wasn't a pastoral care meeting and, further, that she spent the first half of the conversation crying and apologising. That doesn't sound like the same meeting, does it? The Prime Minister finds himself in a position where yet again someone has called his version of events inaccurate and misleading. Perhaps it's not shocking that the Prime Minister has a different story from a woman who was in the room. This is the Prime Minister who has never really explained how he came to be so surprised when he learnt the following things—and I'll quote him:

I have heard that women are overlooked, talked over by men, whether it is in boardrooms, in meeting rooms, in staff rooms, media conferences, cabinets or anywhere else – overlooked and treated like they have nothing valuable to contribute.

I have heard about being marginalised, women being intimidated, women being belittled, women being diminished, and women being objectified.

Former Liberal backbencher Ms Banks is on the record as describing Mr Morrison as 'menacing'.

Perhaps the PM would have been less surprised if he took the time to examine how he and his office use power. The Prime Minister has made no secret of his love for the top job. He makes no secret of his love for red carpets and for power. But being powerful comes with obligations and responsibilities. You should be honest and you should exercise power in a way that enhances, not diminishes, others. We heard from those opposite that none of this is a big deal, that crossing the floor is a very important freedom for the Liberal Party. Indeed, when five senators voted for the One Nation private senator's bill last Monday Mr Morrison said that he doesn't 'run an autocracy'. But if that's the case, where are the moderate Liberals, crossing the floor for strong climate action? Where is the member for Wentworth or the member for North Sydney? Where is Senator Hume? Where are the others? It turns out that having the courage of your convictions requires both courage and conviction.

So here we are, entering the ninth year—the ninth year!—of this tired government, and on yet another occasion the Prime Minister's inability to understand the way women experience work and experience public life is on display. We see a leave pass for members who cross the floor and call for civil disobedience and we see a dressing down for members who want an integrity commission. As I said, sometimes it's the things that someone doesn't do that tell you as much about their character as the things they do.