Julie Bishop: ‘The last few days have left me unspeakably sad’
The former deputy leader of the Liberal Party has addressed the recent spate of sexual assault allegations out of Parliament House.
Stellar
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Julie Bishop has called for Parliament House to introduce new induction processes and independent counselling in order to address claims of the mistreatment of women.
The call comes in the wake of a spate of claims against Australian politicians and political staffers, including former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ allegations that she was raped by a colleague in 2019, and the death of a woman who alleged Attorney-General Christian Porter raped her when they were both students in 1988. Mr Porter categorically denied the allegations, telling a press conference this week that the incident never occurred.
“The last few days have left me unspeakably sad,” Bishop told Samantha Armytage in the second episode of Stellar’s Something To Talk About podcast.
“I have so much sympathy for women who are victims of sexual abuse or other illegal, violent acts and the physical and emotional trauma that surrounds it. It’s just so terribly sad.”
In the candid sit-down interview, the former deputy leader of the Liberal Party said that behaviour that occurs within Parliament House would not be tolerated in the private sector.
“We should be shocked. [Parliament House] should be the model workplace. The people who are in Parliament House are the lawmakers, they are the legislators - and that’s where standards should be set. And sadly, that’s not the case.”
On Friday morning, it was announced that Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins will lead an independent review into federal parliamentary workplaces. An update on the review will be released July this year, with the full findings expected to be available in November.
In addition to her calls for new inductions and regular training for all politicians and political staffers, Bishop drew on her time in parliament to emphasise the importance of independent counselling.
“The party system is so strong - people protect the party name and the party’s political prospects so fiercely that there has to be some independence about it.”
According to Bishop, who is now the Chancellor of the Australian National University, those in positions of power have an obligation to involve the police when faced with allegations of sexual assault or misconduct.
“I don’t know where it goes from here. I don’t know what advice to offer. I don’t know what I can say as a former senior liberal leader - a female in the parliament. But one thing I do know is we have to work within our criminal justice system.”
“I believe that if an employee comes to me to tell me of an alleged serious crime, I have a duty to tell the police.”
Julie Bishop features on episode two of Something To Talk About with Samantha Armytage, available now. Follow or subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
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