Thousands of women, men and children streamed into the space in front of Parliament House in Canberra at lunchtime to participate in the March4Justice and send a message to the Australian government about violence against women.
Attendees ranged from women who had fought for women’s rights in the 1970s, like the Whitlam government’s first adviser on women Elizabeth Reid, right down to groups of schoolgirls and a few small children.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese was spotted in the crowd, together with Labor politicians Tanya Plibersek, Ged Kearney, Penny Wong and Kristina Keneally. Greens members Sarah Hanson-Young, Larissa Waters and Adam Bandt also attended. I didn’t see any Liberal politicians. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce made a surprise appearance.
At the same time, a petition addressed to Scott Morrison was also presented to the Parliament. It called for action on gendered violence and the creation of a federal gender equality act.
March organiser Janine Hendry told the crowd, part of a huge group of protesters attending marches in cities and towns all over the country, that “enough is enough”.
“We need systemic change from government, lawyers and employers. We need measurable cultural and attitudinal change towards women and those who don’t have power.’
“If you are a boss, if you are a politician, if you are a law maker or law enforcer, if you are the one with the power and you know who you are, we request that you use your power to change the systems keeping the rest of us down.”
One of the events triggering the organisation of the March4Justice was the shocking treatment meted out to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who was allegedly raped by a colleague inside the defence minister’s office in Parliament House.
Today, she addressed the crowd, saying that she was speaking at the rally out of “necessity”.
“We are all here today, not because we want to be here but because we have to be here.
“We fundamentally recognise that the system is broken, the glass ceiling is still in place and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institutions.”
Ms Higgins said that after she reported her rape, her former colleagues in the defence ministers office — who she regarded as her family and social network — treated her differently: “I was a political problem. If it can happen in Parliament House, it can happen anywhere.”
Rape survivor Saxon Mullins, the director of advocacy at Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy, had a very powerful message for the crowd.
“One in five women have experienced sexual violence. Men, where do you think these perpetrators are hiding?
“They are your friends. They are your co-workers. They are your football mates and they are your friends from school.”
If you fail to call out your mates on sexist behaviour and look the other way, then you are helping to create a “toxic culture of misogyny” that has enabled them to thrive, she said.
Despite the large crowd and the proximity to Parliament House, there was a very small police presence. I asked a member of the Australian Federal Police, who was lurking on the outside of the protest, if there had been any arrests. “No arrests here,” he smiled indulgently, eyeing off the well-behaved crowd.
However, if the government doesn’t listen to the protesters and take action on gendered violence, women might do more than stage rallies and present petitions. They might take those convictions to the ballot box and vote.
Morrison said he’d see and hear the women – but only a few of them and only ‘privately’. (Has to be the ONLY time this man has refused a major photo opp. He just doesn’t do negative public performances).
Payne said no and mail your stuff to me, then yes, but privately.
McCormack said no, I’m too busy, then yes but ‘privately’.
The PM, the DPM, the Minister for Women – none went to the frontline. Too gutless. Too conscious of the reception they’d have gotten being all over the news tonight and the papers tomorrow.
More conscious of that, than of the damn issue.
Why do we feed these gutless incompetents?
Remember at some point there as a push for politicians’ daily schedules to be publicly available?
It was for transparency about which lobbyist & maaates they were seeing.
In McCormack’s case no doubt most of the pages would be pristine.
Micky Nofrendz, too useless to even bother bribing, given what he’ll do voluntarily.
Now that Porter has declared will give his statements under oath, he will have to choose his lies very carefully indeed.
It will do him no good calling Morrison as a witness of facts, as he clearly knows nuffink ….
Our very own Sgt Schultz of Parliament – not only “I know nothing!” but needs an enquiry to tell him when he didn’t know.
Anything.
I noticed that at least one of the cops in the London police attack was wearing weighted gloves – which are illegal for the citizenry to possess here.
We are lucky that the mass demonstration in Canberra did not become this country’s Peterloo.
Still, we have Porterloo, or wherever he is hiding.
Clearly not too crook or stressed to be having very expensive chats with a brace of shysters.
Joyce might make a good role model here. Demonstrating that you can be a sleaze and still be able to see this isn’t right. Contrasts with the moral Christian Hillsong members following the official church line; a woman needs an independent male witness!. Never thought I’d be emailing Barnaby Joyce MP my support.
When the leader of the opposition rose to seek a suspension of Standing Orders, the Leader of the House moved “that the Member no longer be heard”
As for today’s defo action, it could just be an effort to stop, or lessen, the speculation, demands for extra judicial action and general opprobrium through which the government is swimming like a squad of scared sewer rats.
If, by the time the action threatened comes to court – if ever – something new & shiny will have attracted the mayfly attention span of the media.
If not, is anyone making book on the case being quietly dropped before going before the beak?
Assuming that the gutless ABC doesn’t blink first.
You’re right Agni, defamation suits are mostly used to get people to shut up and back down so the matter never gets an airing. That’s what Porter is banking on, in some private fantasy that the evil ABC backing down proves his innocence. Not sure its fair to call the ABC ‘gutless’ however, without them the matter would still be just a social media meme generator.
Remember the pre-emptive buckle & cringe a couple of years ago when the ABC director rang the PM&C office to say that their reporter had acquired, legitimately, a filing cabinet full of interesting documents and would they please come & take it away?
Real courage.
Interestingly all of the articles published/ broadcast by the ABC had already been checked by the legal department.
The ABC won’t blink on this and I suspect that Porter hopes that this action will chill all discussion regarding him.
I suspect that Christian Porter thinks that he will be returning to the parliament as the Attorney General.
I also suspect that this will not be the case, or if Slomo thinks he can bluff his way through, then he too may be considered unfit for office.
The defamation laws rely on imputations and a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. If Cate’s diaries are entered into evidence……..
There are quite a lot of witnesses available to testify to Porter’s reputation as “piece of work” whilst drunk.
This, in itself makes him unfit to hold the position.
I think something had to give after the Macquarie senior exec offered to testify under oath re: “relevant discussions” he’d had with both the complainant and Porter.
Now, the government can both avoid the risk of holding an independent inquiry, and deflect criticism by claiming that the issues are being “ventilated in public”.
As plaintiff in a defamation action, Porter has more control over the frame of the public ventilation than he would in an independent inquiry. And current defamation laws give him a good chance of winning both the legal battle and the political war.
Even if Porter loses his case, he’ll probably still win the war unless the ABC is successful in arguing a justification defence (as opposed to defending itself in a different way). No-one seems to think that is very likely.
Meanwhile, my mind is boggled by the fact that Porter is not being stood down as AG pending conclusion of the trial. As Bernard Keane wrote somewhere else on this site:
“Even the government — an outfit deeply corrupt and plagued with scandals — is dimly aware of just how wrong it is that an attorney-general should remain in his position while the very courts and judges that he oversees hear his own personal grievances against a media outlet.”
Is the Opposition going to raise this? Anyone? Anyone?
Re your first paragraph, the legal definition of that sort of ‘information’ is hearsay because it is 3rd person (1 & 2 being plaintiff & defendant).
It has zero evidentiary value.