Husar story exposes the hypocrisy of the left
LEFTIES who think the reporting on Emma Husar is a stitch-up need their heads read. Allegations against any pollie should be taken seriously — party loyalties be damned, writes Seb Starcevic.
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I NEVER thought I’d be the one saying this, but the recent allegations against Labor MP Emma Husar have exposed the hypocrisy of the left.
At least 20 former staff have given more than 200,000 words of allegations against Husar, ranging from being forced to take on inappropriate domestic duties such as babysitting and dog-walking to more serious verbal harassment and intimidation.
Any self-respecting leftie would surely welcome an investigation. But many ALP supporters on social media are claiming the whole affair is a stich-up, going so far as to attack the credibility of the journalist who broke the story.
Appearing on ABC’s The Drum to discuss the allegations, Buzzfeed reporter Alice Workman was forced to defend herself against suggestions she intentionally filed the story in the lead-up to the by-elections in an attempt to sway voters.
“I hate to break anyone’s bubble or dismiss anyone’s predetermined ideas when it comes to making decisions about what we report, but there’s no big conspiracy here,” she said.
In fact, the timing was entirely coincidental: the Husar investigation is five months in the making, and its findings are expected to drop in a matter of days. It has squat to do with the recent Super Saturday, especially since Husar’s western Sydney seat of Lindsay wasn’t even one of those up for grabs.
Watching all the sick social media trolls salvate at the struggles of a strong, single mother, MP from Western Sydney (Emma Husar)- shows how many sad and pathetic people are out there.
— Sam Dastyari (@samdastyari) July 24, 2018
Anyway - probably as good a time as any to announce I’m making a TV show about this for #ten.
Meanwhile, the allegations against Husar keep mounting, including that she charged taxpayers almost $1500 to attend a partisan event in Melbourne she claims was “electorate business” and used her taxpayer-funded Comcar to ferry her to appointments with her divorce lawyer.
The Daily Telegraph has also revealed today that Husar jetted to Queensland and stayed in a hotel on the taxpayer’s dime to see a Bruno Mars concert in March this year, accompanied by Chief Inspector Tracy Stone of the Penrith Police.
It’s disappointing to see the left resort to cheap smear tactics and conspiracy theorising to dismiss allegations of ministerial misconduct, regardless of how inconveniently timed they may be. In the past, Labor certainly didn’t wait before calling out senior government ministers’ misuse of taxpayer funds.
When Bronwyn Bishop splashed out on a chopper ride from Melbourne to Geelong using tax dollars in 2015, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten called it an “egregious abuse of entitlements” and “colossally arrogant” ― and rightfully so.
Yet Shorten has bafflingly stood by Husar under the guise of respecting due process, offering a glowing character testimony and saying she’s a “good person” going through “a very tough time”.
I see your Emma Husar & I raise you a Michaelia Cash. #QandA #auspol
— MarkJacka (@themarkjacka) July 30, 2018
That’s coming from the former Minister for Workplace Relations who as far back as 2013 said bullying has “no place” in any Australian workplace. Is it too much to ask for a little consistency?
There’s a disturbing eagerness on the left to downplay the complaints against Husar or paint them as some sort of elaborate Machiavellian plot. And it’s understandable, given the seat of Lindsay is held by a wafer-thin margin of just 1.1 per cent; losing it at the next election would no doubt be a devastating setback.
But no matter how politically damaging the allegations against Husar may turn out to be for Labor, they deserve to be taken seriously, party loyalties be damned. We certainly shouldn’t be sledging journalists for reporting them.
From one leftie to another: we’re better than this.
Seb Starcevic is a RendezView columnist.