Hope for Parliament House’s improved culture turns to rubble

The woman who investigated the culture of Parliament House was hopeful on Tuesday morning that the building had changed for the better.

“I’m really confident that our parliament has changed,” said former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins.

Senator Lidia Thorpe used the Senate to make an accusation against David Van.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

But that hope looked like a pile of political rubble by Wednesday night.

It only took two days for politicians to prove to Australians, again, that federal parliament is a toxic environment that can bring out the worst in all who work there.

The bitter argument over Brittany Higgins, revived out of lingering anger at the way her claims unleashed fury two years ago, turned parliament into a grudge match about the past.

There were good reasons for the Coalition to question Finance Minister Katy Gallagher over her claim – now shown to be false – that “no one had any knowledge” of Higgins’ allegation of rape before the media revealed the allegation on Monday, February 15, 2021. In fact, Gallagher knew the previous Thursday.

Gallagher acted wisely on Tuesday morning by making a statement to the Senate to explain her words. She denied misleading the Senate and, crucially, made it clear she had not known for weeks in advance – a claim made at the time. She said she did not tell others and only communicated with Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz. Nothing emerged to show a long conspiracy.

Gallagher said, however, she would not reveal the details of confidential discussions and then used this as a shield against further questions. This infuriated her opponents, not least Linda Reynolds, the Liberal senator who was Higgins’ boss at the time of the alleged rape in 2019 and endured the worst of Labor’s political attack after the claims were aired in 2021.

The view on the Coalition benches was that if Labor could dish it out in 2021, they could have it served to them in 2023. Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg called it ugly on Wednesday morning, and he was right, but political bitterness is an unstoppable force.

Now it has exploded into a new claim of sexual assault. The debate provoked independent senator Lidia Thorpe to use the floor of the Senate to make the sort of claim usually reserved for a court of law – that Liberal senator David Van had harassed and assaulted her.

Van denied the claim immediately, but nobody can edit the parliament. The allegation was raw, live and uncut. Thorpe later withdrew the comment but it’s a serious allegation and needs to be investigated. Maybe she felt there was no other way to be heard.

Jenkins worked for more than a year on a way to calm the endless conflict and tensions of the building and set up the first real process to deal with allegations of assault. So much for that.

If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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