Michaelia Cash must resign over comments about women in Bill Shorten’s office says Susie O’Brien
MICHAELIA Cash’s slurs against women in Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s office are a grubby 1950s sexist throwback that shows a disgraceful lack of judgment, writes Susie O’Brien.
Susie O'Brien
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A FORMER Minister for Women trashed the reputation of another group of women yesterday and now must resign.
In a grubby 1950s sexist throwback, Michaelia Cash made offensive slurs against women in Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s office during estimates hearings.
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Senator Cash threatened to name “every young woman” in Shorten’s office who, she says, are the subject of “rumours”.
In short, the Minister for Jobs attacked women merely for doing their jobs.
She must now resign from the Ministry. She has shown a disgraceful lack of judgment and cannot be trusted.
The implication is that a group of young, talented professionals are little more than a harem for Mr Shorten.
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The comments came as Labor senator Doug Cameron asked about the employment record of Senator Cash’s new chief of staff.
Senator Cash objected: “If you want to start discussing staff matters, be very, very careful,” she warned.
“Because I am happy to sit here and name every young woman in Mr Shorten’s office over which rumours in this place abound.
“If you want to go down that path today, I will do it.”
“Do you want to start naming them for Mr Shorten to come out and deny any of the rumours that have been circulating in this building now for many, many years?” she asked during the Senate Estimates Hearing.
Confronted by Senator Penny Wong, Senator Cash withdrew the comments “if anyone had been offended by them”.
I am sick of non-apologies like this — she’s apologising for causing offence but not for the comments she’s made. What a ridiculous cop-out.
No doubt the women involved are offended, but so is just about every other woman around.
How dare a former Minister for Women carry on in this way — to impugn the reputation of a group of professionals to make some grubby political point?
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So much for the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s new code of ministerial conduct.
To dismiss this, as former prime minister Tony Abbott did yesterday, as a “brain snap” is to misunderstand what Senator Cash was implying.
At a time when women are being encouraged to stand up against sexual harassment and abuse in the workplace, Senator Cash has gone the other way by attacking a group of women’s professional reputations.
It is an insult to all women and takes us back to the bad old days where women in office settings were little more than playthings for more senior males.
If the new ministerial code of conduct is worth anything, then the Prime Minister must stand up today and demote Senator Cash immediately.
Originally published as Michaelia Cash must resign over comments about women in Bill Shorten’s office says Susie O’Brien
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