Australia’s female politicians ‘have had enough’

Female MPs have spoken about the “boys’ club” mentality that women continue to face at Parliament House.

Female federal MPs have spoken about the ‘boys’ club’ culture within Parliament.

In the weeks since former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019, a weak spot has been exposed in Canberra.

How could this allegedly happen to a woman in what’s supposed to be our nation’s safest building?

It’s less of a surprise, though, to the women who work there.

Speaking to news.com.au, female MPs have spoken about the “boys’ club” mentality in federal politics that women continue to face.

“Just being a woman in a place that is highly dominated by men and that is just so filled – even just the building – just reeks of the boys’ club, the testosterone. You’re constantly trying to find a place within that,” Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“It is an extra barrier that every woman has to confront. Whatever side of politics, whatever her background, it is still blokey.”

Independent MP Zali Steggall said: “Standards have become too lax, there is no accountability.”

Labor Senator Kristina Keneally, who served as NSW Premier before being elected to the senate, said: “It’s quite clear that there are both structural and cultural issues that make it difficult for women to assert their agency and to ensure their safety at work”.

“Every workplace should be safe,” she added. “Particularly at Parliament House.”

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Deputy opposition leader and former premier of NSW, Kristina Keneally. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

When she came to Canberra – first as a member of the press gallery and then as a Senator – Ms Keneally said she was immediately aware of the “real difference” between state and federal politics.

“I noticed a real culture of – dare I say it – almost like school camp. People in Canberra, they might live or act differently to when they’re not in Canberra,” she explained.

“And it made me wonder – nothing bad happened to me, nothing that I would consider beyond just an inappropriate pat – but it did make me wonder what the environment must be like for women who are younger or in vulnerable employment positions and tragically, we have seen some of that play out over the last few weeks in very public and distressing ways.”

HOW HAS THE COALITION RESPONDED?

The day after Ms Higgins’ allegations were made public, the Prime Minister announced the first two of what is now five inquiries into the workplace culture and support for staffers at Parliament House.

“We must continue to address the environment of this place,” Mr Morrison said.

“I believe over the last few years, since this occurred, there have been changes and there have been improvements. But I’m not naive enough to think – and I don’t think any of you are, or anyone else in this place is naive enough to think – that that is not a position of vulnerability that can still occur, whether it’s here or, frankly, in so many other workplaces around this country.

“So, I hope Brittany’s call is a wake-up for all of us from that point of view.”

A second independent inquiry – led by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins – will also be conducted into the culture of Parliament House, co-ordinated by Finance Minister Simon Birmingham, who said he hoped it will focus on safety for staffers.

A fourth inquiry, led by the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens, will investigate who in his office knew of Ms Higgins’ initial allegation and when they knew.

And finally, Ms Higgins has reopened her police inquiry into the alleged assault, saying she wanted the alleged perpetrator to “face the full force of the law” and that she had “waited a long time for justice”.

“By its very nature, a parliament is a highly contested, highly politicised workplace,” Minister for Women Marise Payne told reporters yesterday.

“But I do know after years of experience that the political system does have the capacity to work together to address this issue and these challenges. And we will. It cannot wait.”

HOW THINGS CAN CHANGE IN CANBERRA

Aside from conducting inquiries, electing more women to parliament, there is a need for a cultural change, Ms Steggall said.

“But you also then have to look behind the curtain of the proportion of women at senior roles at their unions and their whole party structure,” Ms Steggall said.

“It’s also not just about having more women in the chambers as MPs or senators. It’s also more female heads of departments, it’s more female chiefs of staff, chief advisers, experts. It’s universities – we need more women as professors – you know, it’s across the board.

“If you have much more equitable gender representation and cultural representation, because I also think parliament is incredibly lacking in cultural diversity – until you achieve a better reflection of society, I don’t think you have a system best placed to come up with best laws for society.”

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Picture: Supplied

Independent MP Zali Steggall. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Liberal Senator Jane Hume said: “Parliament needs to reflect on its culture, on its behaviour and on its attitudes particularly towards women.”

She told SBS you would be “hard-pressed to find a woman that hasn’t experienced sexism in the Canberra bubble – but I’ve experienced it everywhere”.

“But we are doing that. And the changes that I’ve seen, even in just the four years that I’ve been here, have been quite extraordinary, and I hope to see that change continue.”