The Australian Parliament and Women

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, March 24th, 2021 - 14 comments
Categories: australian politics, sexism, uncategorized, violence against women - Tags: ,

To understand how power and misogyny and democracy all flow from the one stinking head, one need look no further than the Australian Parliament right now.

The Australian Parliament represents the elected values of the people. Parliament is the summit of how power is organised and wielded, and further how power is represented by the Head of the government to Australia and to the world. The value radiating out from the Australian parliament right now is how this power is exercised by men against women in Parliament.

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison reveals how that power works in gendered terms in how he has responded to multiple sexual attack allegations. Apparently, male government staff have filmed themselves performing solo sex acts within parliament including on the desk of a female lawmaker. This was reported by the newspaper The Australian as well as Channel 10.

The Prime Minister Scott Morrison has stated in response to the claims that “I am shocked, and I am disgusted. It is shameful. It is just absolutely shameful. I was completely stunned, as I have been on more than one occasion over the course of this last month.” Morrison said he would speak to all government staff and remind them of their responsibilities but didn’t go so far as to say what action would be taken. He did say changes would arrive in the coming weeks.

But he he’s done nothing to honour the parliamentary staffer who committed suicide after an alleged attack by his Attourney-General. Indeed it’s been nothing except deny, deny, deny.

The ruling party is now facing a wave of sustained public pressure. That’s spurred in part by tens of thousands of people rallying last week calling for justice for victims of sexual assault and an end to the degrading treatment of women in the workplace, from sexual harassment to misogyny. He will need to respond positively and substantively now.

None years ago Prime Minister Julia Gillard warned of the climate of female hate in the Australian parliament. It’s worth the time to check it out because she names all the attitudes that hold patriarchy, misogyny, Parliament, and national value into a single hard fist.

She was more than right. She was a prophet. Nine years later Julia Gillard appears more right than ever before.

14 comments on “The Australian Parliament and Women ”

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  1. mac1 1
    24 March 2021 at 1:48 pm

    Wow! What a fifteen minutes of calling it out as it should be called out. Bravo Julia Gillard.

    But did they listen?

    Does the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the elders of Gloriavale listen? As all shown recently had not?

    But there is hope as we move into another year of growth in nuclear weapons, mass shootings, mass self-deception over vaccines. fluoridated water, and mass conspiracy theories of aliens, deteriorating international relations, and origins of pandemics that are themselves doubted as existing…….. in spite of all this we have hope.

    Hope that enough of us continue to call out, speak against, nullify the effects of this sexism, racism, anti-intellectualism, nationalism, all the violence that humanity inflicts upon itself in its inhumanity and rejection of what is good, what is holy and what is just.

    Hope that we all learn to listen.

    • Anne 1.1
      25 March 2021 at 10:17 am

      Thanks mac 1. That was as brilliant a response as Gillard's speech. And look what the populace did to her… threw her out of office for having the guts to tell the truth, and installing the chief perpetrator.

      History repeats itself time and again.

      NZ in the 1970s, 80s and 90s was no better. People who stood up and protested over the insane proliferation of nuclear weapons, racism, sexism and other forms of abusive behaviour were similarly demeaned, humiliated and suppressed for daring to stand up and tell the truth. And we are now hearing about the horrific abuse of young boys at Dilworth College and other institutions that continued throughout the same decades.

      Not a lot changes.

  2. Anker 2
    24 March 2021 at 10:45 pm
    • Gosh she’s brilliant.

    Tony Abbott looks small and like he is squirming inside

  3. Jackel 3
    24 March 2021 at 11:15 pm

    If your reasoning is only based on the claims that something is divinely ordained or part of some Darwinian natural order, then you only allow yourself a fairly narrow band of thinking from which you can only draw quite weak and contentious conclusions. In Abbots case here this allows Guillard to demolish his past statements and make him look like a naughty schoolboy, rather than anything approaching a statesman which of course he deserved for being a bit of a bully.

  4. Ad 4
    25 March 2021 at 8:59 am

    A targeted reshuffle will fix it?

  5. millsy 5
    25 March 2021 at 10:29 am

    Julia Gillard's goverment then went on to cut benefits for single mothers, a decision that she stands by to this day. Among other things.

    I guess some women matter more than others to some people.

  6. ghostwhowalksnz 6
    25 March 2021 at 5:01 pm

    The sad case of the woman who committed suicide recently after the rape when she was 16 and perperator was 17. She was never a parliamentary staffer, thats a different women who was assualted by another staffer in a ministers office.

    Then today there is the story out of NSW of the nationals MP who is investigated for a sexual attack last year or so who kept quiet a police investigation thats been ongoing for 3 months.

  8. Grafton Gully 8
    25 March 2021 at 8:45 pm

    She is opposing a motion put by Abbott by attacking him personally rather than concentrating on the motion itself. Anyone know what the motion was and if it passed ?