Vikki Campion: The woman who is an innocent victim in text message leak
What has been missed in the latest text message saga is that the woman whose messages were leaked has now become collateral damage when all she wanted to do was help others, writes Vikki Campion.
Opinion
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Let’s go back to March last year. Barnaby was a backbencher approached by former government staffers who had been treated terribly by the Government about the Freedom of Information Act amendments.
The bill in its original form would have meant that complaints about toxic behaviour in Parliament House, whether by a Minister, an MP or senior staff, could be dumped into a review, never to be seen again.
It also allowed the private submissions into the Kate Jenkins workplace review, brought about by Brittany Higgins rape allegations in parliament, to never be made public, even through Freedom of Information applications.
Barnaby and a few other backbenchers listened to these women when they were being ignored by everyone else.
Of course, no one will care that the laws he had changed protected those who came forward to give evidence to the inquiry.
Other notes he wrote about this to others who reached out to him would never be leaked to media because they centred around the detail of the bill he was amending for them.
At the time, the group couldn’t even get a heads up on when the legislation would be listed.
In ensuring staff would be heard and their experience not swept under the carpet, he sent a private message to third party, also a victim of this mess, to tell Brittany Higgins something.
It’s no surprise Barnaby was bruised by his past experience, and he has never been known for being shy about venting his opinions, but he has apologised and offered his resignation, the first was accepted and the latter rejected.
What all the media and commentary are missing is that it was not Barnaby’s text that was leaked.
It was a message from a woman, another victim, that was leaked to journalists by someone she trusted, indeed someone she was trying to help, to change a situation she didn’t want anyone else to go through.
This woman, at the time a former staffer, was the trusted go-between in the group trying to make a difference for current staffers. She was acting from her heart, not in any paid capacity or lobbying role, a rare thing in those halls, and now she has been twisted in knots as since 9pm last night her messages have graced the front of every major national paper.
She went to Barnaby because she knew he was effective, and now for her troubles she faces being outed by idiots, and potentially losing her job.
This woman is the collateral damage for trying to help and the implications for her could be career damaging for life.
Whatever this was, the #Metoo movement needs to consider its actions, you cannot call yourselves activists for women’s rights when you are carelessly disregarding the trust between each other for political gain. It was a betrayal.
Vikki Campion is a Saturday Telegraph columnist and the partner of Barnaby Joyce
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