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PM urged to act after Laming apologises for ‘shocking’ trolling behaviour
By Latika Bourke
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he has made it clear to veteran MP, Andrew Laming that he needs to raise the standard of his behaviour, after forcing the Queenslander to apologise to two women for trolling them on Facebook.
Mr Morrison hauled the MP into his office on Thursday and demanded he stop using social media to post trolling comments and apologise to the pair both personally and publicly.
“I find it disgraceful and I called him into my office yesterday and told him to apologise and deal with it and he has,” the Prime Minister said on Friday morning. “He is very clear about my expectations.”
In a speech to the House of Representatives on Thursday, the member for Bowman said he unreservedly apologised for his online behaviour.
Nine News Queensland reporter Peter Fegan said Mr Laming gave the speech after he contacted the government and just hours before his report – which featured the two women’s emotional pleas for the MP to stop his online abuse – was aired.
Alix Russo told Nine News she was suicidal as a result of Mr Laming’s false accusations that she had misappropriated money.
Liberal MP Andrew Laming in Parliament House.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Unfortunately for you, I make the rules and you follow them,” Laming wrote on Facebook to the single mother.
Ms Russo, a charity worker, told Nine News: “I want to be alive, I don’t want to be attacked anymore.”
Sheena Hewlett, a teacher and wife of a local councillor, said Mr Laming requested her teaching timetable from her school and in 2019 hid in bushes as well as took photos of her in a public park. She reported the incidents to the police.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office said: “At the Prime Minister’s request, the Member for Bowman issued an unreserved public apology. His comments were not acceptable to both women and also to the Prime Minister. Every Australian has the right to feel safe online and Mr Laming has made a commitment to change his online communication practices.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has been urged to take action as his government reels from allegations of sexual assault.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The opposition’s spokesperson for women Tanya Plibersek told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age the revelations were “absolutely shocking behaviour”.
“This is not the behaviour of an MP,” she said. “What action will the PM take?”
In his speech in the dying minutes of the sitting week, the member for Bowman apologised for his behaviour.
“Today I was informed of the significant distress of two of my constituents in my electorate as a result of my online commentary with them,” Mr Laming said.
“They are both highly regarded individuals within our Redland community.
“I want to unreservedly apologise to both Ms Hewlett and Ms Russo and I express my regret and deep apologies for the hurt and distress that that communication may have caused.
“Today in this House I want to retract my comments and issue a public unreserved apology.
“There are many lessons for ... me in this experience, not just about words but about the impact words can have on others.”
Mr Laming’s behaviour comes under scrutiny at a critical time for the government, which is under pressure over the treatment of women in federal politics.
The debate has been raging for more than a month and was triggered by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ allegation she was raped in the office of her then-boss, Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, after a night out with a colleague.
The Prime Minister has been criticised for responding too slowly to the broader debate about the workplace and political culture that the revelation sparked.
Mr Morrison told A Current Affair on Thursday night that the whole episode had been “daunting”.
“At that time, and particularly how I started to learn of these things, you are right: it was just shocking. It was daunting,” he told the show’s host Tracy Grimshaw.
“What has become, I think, more crystallised in this last five weeks, as Brittany standing up has caused a very deep and confronting conversation in Australia, is we’ve gone way deeper.
“We’ve gone beyond just the sheer shock of violent acts and we’re starting to deal with some real home truths.”
Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au)