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Former Labor MP Kate Ellis on Canberra’s ‘toxic’ working culture

A former Labor minister has made a claim about an unnamed political staffer, as she speaks of the “toxic” working culture in Parliament.

Shireen KhalilShireen Khalil
@Shireenkal
4 min read
March 30, 2021 - 7:02AM
Former Labor MP Kate Ellis on Canberra’s ‘toxic’ working culture (Australian Story)

Kate Ellis was in her late 20s and had only been a Member of Parliament for a short time when she found herself at the centre of sexual slurs and destructive gossip.

The former Rudd-Gillard government minister said she never spoke to other women about the sexism she was facing, but gendered stereotyping and gibes were a constant throughout her political career.

In a bombshell interview with Australian Story on ABC, the now 43-year-old has lifted the lid on the alleged “toxic” workplace culture in Parliament House — something she didn’t recognise until she left politics in 2019.

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Former Labor MP Kate Ellis has lifted the lid on the ‘toxic’ working culture in parliament. Picture: Twitter/KateEllis
Former Labor MP Kate Ellis has lifted the lid on the ‘toxic’ working culture in parliament. Picture: Twitter/KateEllis

“I’d only been an MP for a couple of weeks and we were out for drinks and this Liberal staffer quite aggressively just said, ‘Kate, the only thing anyone wants to know about you is just how many blokes you f***ed in order to get into parliament’,” Ms Ellis claimed.

“Just the fact that he came up and said that to my face when I was an elected MP and he was a staff member, that he still had the confidence to do that.”

She said that the then-Liberal operative, who she went on to avoid during her political life, interrupted her at a Canberra bar after she had just won the marginal seat of Adelaide at age 27.

In 2007, she went on to become the youngest Australian government minister when then-prime minister Kevin Rudd appointed her Minister for Youth and Minister for Sport.

Ms Ellis spent almost 15 years in the federal parliament, where she was also the Minister for Early Childhood Education and the Status of Women.

In 2019 she decided to call it quits to spend more time with her family.

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Kate was 27 when she was first elected to parliament and in 2007 became the youngest Australian government minister when appointed Minister for Youth and Sport.
Kate was 27 when she was first elected to parliament and in 2007 became the youngest Australian government minister when appointed Minister for Youth and Sport.

However, she told the program that now she has a bit more perspective on what is normal and “you can see that some of these things that I used to just accept were just part of the job were really not OK”.

Ms Ellis will soon release a memoir, In Sex, Lies and Question Time, discussing her parliamentary career and the treatment of female MPs amid an escalating debate about the treatment of women in politics.

“It’s really strange how when you leave the parliament and re-enter normal life that you slowly start to realise how the rest of the world operates,” she said.

She recalled a “shocking and hurtful rumour” two years after she was elected an MP where she had found herself in the “ridiculous” position of telling a national newspaper editor, “I promise I’ve never even kissed him,” as she pleaded for her political life.

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In an interview with Australian Story, she revealed how a male staffer approached her after her election to ask ‘how many blokes she had to f***’ to get into office. Picture: ABC
In an interview with Australian Story, she revealed how a male staffer approached her after her election to ask ‘how many blokes she had to f***’ to get into office. Picture: ABC

The publication was going to print a story that she was involved in an alleged love triangle — that she and her female chief of staff were both having a sexual relationship with a male adviser in their office.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not, once it’s printed, then there’s no going back from that. And I instantly knew if that story ran, it would be career-ending for me.

“I would be labelled as a slut and I would be labelled as someone who isn’t really up to the job at all.”

Ms Ellis said there was “zero” truth to the rumour, which she believed originated from her own party. The newspaper editor also agreed not to publish it.

When she first came to politics, Ms Ellis said most of the MPs, senior staff and all of the factional powerbrokers were men.

The former Labor frontbencher said she never spoke to other women about the sexism she was facing until recently, in a bid to change the culture. Picture: Gary Ramage
The former Labor frontbencher said she never spoke to other women about the sexism she was facing until recently, in a bid to change the culture. Picture: Gary Ramage

“I remember being a young staff member and being hit on by MPs,” she said, adding that it “wasn’t uncommon”.

“But I know of much worse stories. Certainly when I was a staffer and a volunteer, I saw a lot of things but I also heard allegations of what I’d call serious sexual assault and misconduct from an elected Labor MP.

“This is something that isn’t new. We’ve seen a number of stories recently, but I suspect that there are hundreds and hundreds more.”

Ms Ellis said she never spoke to other women about the sexism she was facing because she didn’t want to have a focus on, “‘Hey, do you know who thinks I’m a stupid bimbo? Who thinks I’ve slept with half the parliament? Do you know who is spreading rumours that I was caught naked in the prayer room?’”

But after reaching out to other women — from all parties — for her book, she said it became “really apparent” that every woman had a story to tell.

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She said throughout her career she and her female colleagues faced harassment, sexual slurs and destructive gossip designed to stop them being politically effective.
She said throughout her career she and her female colleagues faced harassment, sexual slurs and destructive gossip designed to stop them being politically effective.
She left politics in 2019 and has since been working on a new book, Sex, Lies and Question Time, to add to the national conversation around women in Canberra. Picture: ABC
She left politics in 2019 and has since been working on a new book, Sex, Lies and Question Time, to add to the national conversation around women in Canberra. Picture: ABC

“Focus on physical appearance is much greater for women, focus on their private lives, issues around motherhood, slut-shaming, personal attacks, rumours and gossip used to undermine women in a way men don’t have to face to the same extent in parliament,” Ms Ellis said.

“It makes it harder for you to actually focus on doing your job. There’s this casual misogyny that shows up in a whole range of ways.

“People are rewarded in politics for bad behaviour. If you undermine someone, then you’re more likely to be promoted.”

Admittedly, Ms Ellis said she was “really terrified” of writing a book that might discourage women from entering politics, but said it’s “not what I’m trying to do”.

“It’s a culture that needs to be examined and it needs to change,” she said.

And now that she’s left politics, she is ready to add to the national conversation around women in Canberra by sharing the stories of high-profile current and former female politicians.

“I just want it to be better for them when they get there,” she said about future female politicians.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/former-labor-mp-kate-ellis-on-canberras-toxic-working-culture/news-story/b198ce9438649754be8624ee22a0c8cc