Enough words … it’s time for action

Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a press conference in Parliament House Canberra on Tuesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

There is little doubt that the Coalition — and the Prime Minister in particular — wants to move on from the tawdry and downright disgusting behaviour, and allegations, revealed on Monday. Staffers behaving badly, performing sex acts in the workplace. MPs apparently procuring sex workers in the nation’s capital at Parliament House.

But as a country, we are only going to move on from what has been revealed in recent weeks if actions follow; if reforms are put in place. Words without action no longer matter.

People are free to do what they want to themselves, but doing so degradingly over a female MP’s desk without her knowledge isn’t acceptable.

People are free to visit sex workers, doing so is legal in the ACT. But in Parliament House and in the prayer room? I doubt most Australians would be comfortable about that.

Parliament House is a workplace, and clearly the culture has its problems. Thankfully Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins has already been commissioned to investigate those cultural problems and make recommendations to improve the situation. Let’s hope her recommendations get taken up, unlike the last time Jenkins made similar recommendations about workplace practices which were largely ignored.

The Prime Minister has said that he wants to get to the bottom of who else was involved in the actions brought to light on Monday. One senior government staffer has already been sacked, and more may follow. The whistleblower we spoke to for Monday’s story knows about other staffers behaving badly with evidence to back it up, but so would the now former staffer who featured in the videos and pictures. Will he, at the appropriate time, be asked to disclose who else was involved in the activities revealed? Including allegations about sex workers and MPs?

These are serious questions if the government is genuine about wanting to lift the curtain on what has gone on in Parliament House.

The PM’s media conference on Tuesday was one of the more extraordinary I have attended. His emotion at wanting to fix the failures women face was genuine, and I have been cynical about Scott Morrison’s sincerity in the past. It should have come sooner, which Morrison all but acknowledged. But there was also obfuscation and even belligerence as the PM attempted to avoid answering questions by pointing to allegations of poor workplace conduct in one media organisation.

It was an unedifying and unfortunate deflection in an otherwise sincere performance.

Peter van Onselen is political editor at Network 10