ABC hatchet job on Christian Porter a political ‘gotcha’

As if to fill the comic vacuum left by Donald Trump, along comes Aunty and its reporter Louise Milligan to trash some reputations.

Attorney-General Christian Porter was obviously the real target.

Now that Donald Trump has been defeated, one may wonder what the cartoonists and comedians are to do for material. But, luckily, Australia comes to the rescue. As if to fill the comic vacuum, along comes the ABC and its reporter Louise Milligan. On Four Corners, taking a breather from her usual occupation of penning scandal about the Catholic hierarchy, Milligan set herself up as implacable feminist avenger of her sex, training her relentless purse-lipped scrutiny on the sordid sex lives of male (Liberal) parliamentarians and exposing the squalid goings-on in that boiling pit of passion known as Canberra. And you thought Canberra was dull?

If you think I am not taking seriously this report inspired by Malcolm Turnbull’s so-called bonking ban, you are right. Naturally Milligan bothered to investigate the sexual peccadillos and attitudes only of a couple of Liberal members including Attorney-General Christian Porter, obviously her real target. All she managed to glean from her relentless sniffing out of dirty deeds in the highly confected images of parliament’s corridors of power were some undergraduate shenanigans of the sort that I, as an enthusiastic past attendee of the Bacchus ball in my old uni days, found rather pathetically tame. Porter was a terrible lad. Who knew? Answer: everybody in the press gallery. Who cares? Answer: No one.

ABC journalist Louise Milligan. Picture: Brett Costello

This pointless program was doubtless accompanied by much sniggering as bored viewers switched to Netflix. So why is Scott Morrison still supporting Turnbull’s futile office bonking ban? Morrison’s view on this is unrealistic and will lead to yet more pointless scandalmongering. The Prime Minister is making a mistake. Even Julie Bishop, an ardent defender of feminism and women working in parliament, apparently thought that such a ban would do nothing but give tabloid-type sensational journalism carte blanche to pry into politicians’ private lives, an area that has no relationship to their public duties.

Well, that has been proved correct. The only focus of the Four Corners program was on the behaviour of two men from one side of politics. But only one, Porter, really counted. So it was not about attitudes to women in the political milieu. It was nothing but political “gotcha” dressed up as a feminist tract.

Even as gotcha journalism it was a limp failure because it had no bearing on either man’s political role, let alone Porter’s job as Attorney-General. However, there is no doubt that without the so-called bonking ban and Turnbull’s involvement, Four Corners would never have had any hook for the program.

The sheer hypocrisy behind this production and Milligan’s po-faced presentation is what was truly gobsmacking. The excuse for the whole tawdry tell-all program was that it was supposed to be about women, about attitudes to women in parliament, and the exploitation of young women, which does indeed occur. But it was not about that at all. Nor was this show, complete with actors, about sexual assault that actually happened to an ABC journalist in the NSW parliament. That is a serious, indeed, criminal matter. There are already numerous protections against that type of behaviour, and young female workers need to know about them. But no, it was not about any of that. It was just an excuse to trash Porter’s reputation.

Now, as any rational, fair-minded person knows, sexual affairs in the office can indeed cause problems — journalists know this better than most. The Barnaby Joyce affair was very hurtful for all the people involved. However, it also had a political dimension because it was disastrous for the Nationals and the running of the office of leader. It caused disruption. That is the point where such an affair should be a matter for intervention.

However, that intervention needs to come from a personal approach by the leader and, naturally, other people in the office — rarely from the media. The Australian public doesn’t want to be assailed by an American-style puritanism. We don’t want our own Monica Lewinsky because, frankly, reporting of sexual affairs for their own sake distracts from serious political and policy issues. What is more, with our fairly laid-back attitude to sex, I suspect that many Australians — like me — are amused or simply not interested.

As a resident of Canberra, I am not one of the FIFOs in the bubble, but yes, I have attended that symbolic milestone of insiders, the Midwinter Ball many times, fortunately, with spouse — so unfortunately, did not achieve the dazzling success of Kristina Keneally. And yes, I’ve heard all the gossip in the ladies loo at that function, which was probably more revealing than Milligan’s investigation. At other times, I have had senior ministers and two prime ministers at my family dinner table, all people of impeccable character and sexual moral probity. I have a few friends in the bubble, but I have little sympathy for these modern-day Don Juans in parliament, nor do any of my female friends outside the bubble. However, we do know it does take two to tango and treating women as if they are a delicate species apart, permanent victims with no moral agency, is laughable. What is not laughable is to try to use the feminist victimhood angle to paper over a political hatchet job by a disgruntled former prime minister and a vituperative ABC virago. That is wrong. What is more, casting the first stone is wrong. It is for individuals to be responsible for their own sexual behaviour. Only when it impinges on the smooth running of parliament and the general welfare of the Australian electorate can it be of any interest to anyone else.