Julie Bishop speaks for the first time since resigning as Foreign Minister
JULIE Bishop has spoken for the first time since resigning as Foreign Minister, using the opportunity to take aim at the behaviour of her colleagues in Canberra.
NSW
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JULIE Bishop has spoken for the first time since she resigned her post as Foreign Minister, taking the opportunity to talk about the difficulties faced by women parliamentarians.
A week after MP Julie Banks quit as a result of her treatment and following allegations of bullying and intimidation during the leadership spill which delivered Scott Morrison the Prime Minstership, Ms. Bishop said it was “evident that there is an acceptance of a level of behaviour in Canberra that would not be tolerated in any other workplace across Australia”.
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“The events surrounding the leadership change will be discussed and debated and dissected for years to come … I am just sitting back thinking ‘’gee what will I do when I grow up’,” she said.
She used the opportunity to call out political posturing on both sides, rather than decision-making for the nation’s good.
Speaking at the Australian Women’s Weekly Women of The Future Awards lunch at the Quay restaurant in Sydney, where guests included Natalie Joyce, the estranged wife of Barnaby Joyce, Ms Bishop said she believe question time in parliament, “does more damage to the reputation of the parliament than virtually any other issue”.
“When we politicians show such contempt for each other, are the public justified in feeling contempt for all of us … it ends up as an embarrassing circus. The more you sledge and the more you ridicule, the more you are applauded,” she said.