Corporate conscience won’t stop gladiators

Scott Morrison holds a copy of the Jenkins review on Tuesday. Picture: Adam Taylor

The review of parliamentary work culture, sexual harassment and bullying is going to fundamentally convert a traditional breeding ground of ambition, conflict, bullying, loyalty and betrayal into a modern corporate workplace where there are at least formalised avenues for workers to seek redress for wrongdoing.

But don’t expect the nature of scheming political advancement nor the conflict of centuries-old adversarial politics to disappear overnight – or any time soon.

Workers in Parliament House – particularly staffers, young interns and political wannabes who are often exploited over working hours and who have been prepared to put up with harassment and bullying – will have new avenues of redress, workplace rights and justices long denied them.

Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese have signalled a readiness to embrace the recommendations of the Jenkins report and bring the culture of parliament into line with modern corporate and public service standards of behaviour and control. It’s a case of the HoR gets the HR everybody else has had for years.

Yet within an hour of the report’s release, parliamentary question time demonstrated as much of the theatre of name-calling, intimidation, allegations of wrongdoing, inferences of criminal acts, incipient conflict and angry confrontation as ever.

Even the new Speaker’s appeal to the spirit expressed in the report’s findings fell on deaf ears or rather was drowned out by institutionalised jeering and sledging. There was even an audible guffaw from the benches when the Speaker cited the sentiments of the report.

Morrison’s suggestion about the media’s concentration on conflict in politics and its contribution to the confrontational character of parliament was self-fulfilling and self-defeating. Labor asked questions laced with inferences of ministerial criminal wrongdoing and Morrison responded in kind, linking the Opposition Leader politically to jailed Labor members.

Despite Jenkins’ attempts to wring wider changes out of her report, to the extent of getting the political parties to establish gender targets to increase female representation, the political conflict will continue.

Young partisan-fuelled political wannabes, inculcated with conflict in the “young” arms of political parties, loyal to political parties, prepared to personally attach themselves to factions and their bosses, as well as, the ritualised confrontation are going to continue.

The screening, training, recruitment and conditions of the young political gladiators will change but they will still end up fighting in the colosseum.