Staffers’ solo sex acts bring Morrison back to reality

When Scott Morrison returned from the festive season break and thought about the year ahead, his vision would have been about how best to capitalise on the success of Australia’s pandemic response and economic bounceback, and to exploit an opposition in disarray with a leader under siege. Conventional wisdom at that time was that an election would be called sometime this year to catch the government’s opponents flat-footed. Victory at the next federal election would extend the length of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison conservative government past that achieved by John Howard. But as federal parliament prepares to conclude a tumultuous sitting this week, the Prime Minister is in a world of pain.

Despite good news on the economic front, the reform agenda on industrial relations has been surrendered in the face of partisan politics by the ALP and obstinance in the Senate. The pathway forward is much less clear because of an escalating row over allegations of sexual abuse in parliament that has spilled over into anger about the treatment of women in the community and workplace in general. Serious allegations have been made that a rape involving parliamentary staff took place two years ago in the office of the defence industry minister at the time, Linda Reynolds. Attorney-General Christian Porter has taken leave for mental health reasons after facing allegations he raped a woman 30 years ago when both were teenagers, which he denies. Those claims are now the subject of defamation proceedings between Mr Porter and the ABC.

Combined, the allegations have ignited a storm of community protest, with claims of mistreatment of women spreading to the ALP and major private firms. Mr Morrison has been under attack for having a tin ear about complaints. But the final straw came on Tuesday with reports Coalition staff had filmed themselves masturbating on the desks of MPs and shared the images online. There are allegations of prostitutes being taken into Parliament House for a former MP. All up, it paints the picture of a workplace out of control and, as the most senior person in the building, and the nation, Mr Morrison is being called to take responsibility. In an emotional press conference on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said he was “shocked”, “completely stunned” and “disgusted” by the “disgraceful behaviour” that had been exposed. Things that were done, he said, “are just so foreign to me that I can hardly process them”. Mr Morrison’s plea was to “put the politics aside on these things and we must recognise this problem, acknowledge it, and we must fix it”. “This is not something that is of a scale that any government can simply change, it is something we must change as a society because we know it happens all over this country,” the Prime Minister said.

The media verdict inside Parliament House was that Mr Morrison was attempting to reset the conversation on women. Political reporter Rosie Lewis said many would say it was too late and the damage to his government was already done. Associate editor Helen Trinca cast the convulsions as a reanimation of the women’s liberation push after a period in which younger women thought that all the battles had been won. “It’s been both thrilling and confronting,” Trinca wrote.

Mr Morrison is correct that this is a battle that extends well beyond the highly irregular working conditions and power dynamics inside Parliament House. In recent years sex scandals have claimed the scalps of a host of well-known and powerful corporate chiefs. The most recent examples of male staff in parliament sharing images of themselves indulging in solo sex acts on the desks of female MPs shines a light into an element of culture that might seem incomprehensible to older generations. Sending lewd images is behaviour that parents of teenage sons and daughters know well is not confined to high office. But none of this will let Mr Morrison off the hook.

Mr Morrison told Coalition staff on Tuesday they would undertake mandatory face-to-face workplace health and safety training in response to the inappropriate behaviour and sexual assault allegations. The government will establish a register for staff induction and professional conduct across all ministerial offices. It also will implement a Coalition human resources team to promote best practice and provide guidance for staff. Given the human resources requirements placed on private sector workplaces, many would think it extraordinary these measures were not already in place for the major parties.

Where Mr Morrison has struggled to outline a coherent strategy to get back on to the front foot, Greens senator Larissa Waters on Tuesday listed the demands that will take government focus away from success with COVID-19 and the economic recovery. They include that the commonwealth immediately fully fund all frontline domestic violence and sexual assault services, legislate to end the gender pay gap, strengthen sexual harassment laws, make early childhood education free and build social housing. Mr Morrison says he is in favour of more women in senior conservative ranks, including a quota system. But from a position of strength at the start of the parliamentary term the Prime Minister is being called to fight on terms that better suit his political opponents.