Bonk ban idea is, well, bonkers

NOT every workplace relationship is a disturbing example of the misuse of power. Cathy McGowan’s call for them to be banned is insulting and unworkable, writes Victoria Hannaford.

FOR reasons best known to herself, independent MP Cathy McGowan has decided that now is a good time to call for a ban on politicians having relationships with staffers.

It’s no secret that relationships are having a cultural moment.

Whether it’s the fallout from #metoo or Barnaby Joyce’s extra curricular activities, interpersonal interaction has generated a huge amount of conversation in the past few months.

But the MP for Indi’s call for a bonking ban is, well, bonkers.

What’s more, the inference that women need to be protected at all costs from relationships is insulting and infantilising.

It shouldn’t need to be spelled out, but not every workplace relationship stems from a disturbing power imbalance and coercion.

As awful as the avalanche of sexual harassment claims are, they are the exception, not the rule, and they shouldn’t be a precursor to banning consensual relationships.

The desired outcome from the #metoo movement is that claims of sexual harassment and assault are taken seriously, rigorously investigated and prosecuted. That’s all the protection women and men are calling for. It’s not that complicated.

Nevertheless, McGowan is seizing the opportunity to press forward with bizarre claims.

Barnaby Joyce’s relationship with a staffer may have caused him problems, but the idea legislating against similar situations is heavy-handed and insulting. (Pic: Mick Tsikas/AAP)

“There is a belief the Parliament is behind community expectations and corporate practice,” McGowan said in a statement today, without providing any supporting evidence for this assertion.

She went on to cite “examples set by the process undertaken by the United States Congress and in the Australian corporate sector, including the action of the AFL in July last year regarding relationships in the workplace”.

Let’s leave aside that the AFL’s action was considered by many to be heavy handed — all involved were consenting adults, after all.

What is truly baffling is why anyone would want to follow the lead of United States right now, moreover publicly advocate for doing so. There’s not a single thing going on in that country that any right thinking Australian should aspire to.

Cathy McGowan has overreacted to Barnaby Joyce’s situation. (Pic: David Geraghty/The Australian)

The US has deeply puritanical roots, and often fails to separate church and state, despite founding father Thomas Jefferson’s best efforts.

Spruiking for a sex ban is the kind of moralistic nonsense you’d expect to hear from a cult leader who was taking a break from demanding he be allowed to have unlimited sister wives. Which says nothing of the folly of trying to legislate around matters of the heart.

Of course there can be complications if you start a relationship in your workplace — look no further than Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion for evidence of that — but the same is true of every relationship. Legislation would be a pointless protection: love can get messy no matter anyone’s best intentions.

But beyond the obvious folly of McGowan’s statements, she hints at a deeply troubling lapse of reasoning.

Conflating sexual harassment with consenting adults having relationships — even extra marital ones — is both lazy and dangerous.

They’re not the same thing, and to call for a sex ban seriously misrepresents, and threatens to derail, the vital discussion that #metoo has begun.

Victoria Hannaford is a RendezView writer and producer.

@vhannaford