Labor can’t crow about believing all women then ignore those who are politically inconvenient

Don’t expect the feminist warriors who pretend to care about the treatment of women to condemn Dan Andrews, despite a Labor MP paying a terrible price for taking a brave stand.

Premier Dan Andrews has a women problem.

When a strong woman has the courage to stand up to him, whether they be his own ministers like Jane Garrett or Jenny Mikakos, or women in the media like journalist Gabriella Power or commentator Peta Credlin, he responds with a mixture of hostility, condescension and barely concealed disdain.

But don’t expect the feminist warriors who pretend to care about the treatment of women to condemn Andrews.

They’re too busy attacking the first lady Jenny Morrison for daring to have an opinion about Grace Tame’s rudeness towards her.

It seems only some women are allowed to speak their truth.

Labor MP Kaushaliya Vaghela has accused Premier Andrews of being a spiteful misogynist who only pretends to respect women.

“I’m scared of him and I’m scared about what he’s going to do. I was scared before I crossed the floor. He will take revenge. Everybody’s scared,” she said.

“That’s why nobody says anything against him. And anyone, any woman that does, they disappear (from prominence), like Jenny Mikakos.

Kaushaliya Vaghela has copped a hideous backlash since speaking out against Dan Andrews. Picture: David Caird

“He’s a misogynist, that is what he is … He talks about respecting women but that’s not what I saw.”

Vaghela, who is the first Indian-born woman in the Victorian parliament, also explained that allies of the Premier, including some in his office, have tried to destroy her.

“They wanted to break me mentally, physically and psychologically,” she said.

In a statement posted on social media she said she had “suffered in silence for years” and when she did complain she “was treated as a nuisance by the Premier’s office.”

For speaking out, Vaghela has copped a hideous backlash not just from online trolls but from Labor MPs who have indulged in gaslighting and victim blaming.

Among the worst offenders is Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas, who resorted to the tried and true tactic of questioning an aggrieved woman’s mental state.

“I’m not going to get involved in an analysis of the thought processes that led Ms Vaghela to make the comments she did,” Pallas said.

The Premier surrounded himself with supportive female MPs during his media appearance on Sunday. Picture: David Geraghty

“It is worrying for me that she said that, and it goes to her state of mind, and I hope, and I can assure her should she need assistance from the government, in any way, to help with her state of mind, we will support her in the way through this.”

Premier Andrews said the claims were the stuff of fantasy. “There’s no need for me to respond to that. It’s just a fantasy without foundation, and I’m not going to enter into a debate on those things,” he said.

So if you put in a complaint about being bullied and tormented within the Labor Party you can expect Labor’s most powerful men to question your ‘state of mind’ or suggest you’re a fantasist.

The Premier did himself no favours on Thursday when he dismissively referred to Ms Vaghela as “that person”, refusing to even utter her name.

“I wasn’t entirely surprised but to be honest I’m not here to talk about that person or the events in the upper house yesterday, I’m far too busy. I’m not sworn in to be a commentator, I’m sworn in to get on and get things done,” he said.

Can you just imagine the howls of rage and the almighty media storm that would come if Prime Minister Scott Morrison or any conservative man referred to a female MP as “that person”?

Where are the feminist warriors, the media activists who see patriarchal oppression and systematic misogyny everywhere, whether it exists or not.

Why aren’t they rallying around a woman who is paying a terrible price for taking a brave stand for greater transparency?

Where is the sisterhood? Where is Lisa Wilkinson, Virginia Trioli, Laura Tingle or the rest of the ABC, Guardian, Nine, Ten et al media activist class?

It’s crystal clear is that those who pretend to champion women’s rights are very selective about who they consider a victim and who they believe is worthy of censure.

Vaghela, who became the first Labor MP to cross the floor since 1987, has said she’s been “sickened by the government’s victim blaming”.

“I have been bullied from the day I got elected because I dared to leave the Socialist Left faction,” she wrote.

“Four years of bullying and abuse has taken its toll, so I ask the Premier and his team to stop.”

Labor must hold their own to the same standard they demand of their ideological opponents.

You cannot preach “believe all women” and then ignore or attack any woman whose accusation is politically inconvenient.