Zali Steggall reveals ‘appalling’ levels of harassment and assault in Australian Parliament. (Dossier)
Sydney, Australia:
Australia has allowed a sexist culture to infect its parliament, a prominent lawmaker has told AFP, as allegations of sexual assault once again reverberate through the country’s halls of power.
The sexist nature of Australian politics was highlighted in late 2021 when a scathing review found Parliament rife with alcoholism, harassment and sexual harassment.
Less than two years later, the country is once again grappling with the behavior of its political class, after allegations of sexual assault were made against a conservative senator.
Independent politician Zali Steggall said women had suffered “appalling” levels of harassment and sexual assault while working in Parliament.
“The culture of the Australian parliament has been exposed in recent years and still has a long way to go,” he told AFP.
“It’s been an overwhelmingly patriarchal environment.”
Few noticed initially when Lidia Thorpe stepped forward to address the Senate last Wednesday evening, but her interjection would quickly grip the nation.
Thorpe accused fellow senator David Van of sexually assaulting her in 2021, and would later describe being propositioned by “powerful men”.
On Thursday, Conservative senator Amanda Stoker had also accused Van of groping her during a party in Parliament.
Van, a former PR consultant, has strongly protested his innocence, calling the allegations “outrageous”, “fabricated” and “totally false”.
“Harmful and destructive”
Australia’s two main parties have spent the past week slinging mud at each other over their handling of a rape allegation brought by former political staffer Brittany Higgins in 2021.
Although the case ended in a mistrial in October last year, the claims have resurfaced in recent weeks after Higgins’ private text messages were leaked to reporters.
Steggall, who won a bronze medal for slalom skiing at the 1998 Winter Olympics, said it was “harmful and destructive” to see rape allegations as a weapon for political gain.
“It’s been a very disappointing and distressing week in parliament,” he said. “It set us back in terms of the type of workplace it is.”
Political scientist Marian Sawer said the level of sexual harassment in Australia’s parliament was similar to that reported in the UK and New Zealand, other Westminster-style democracies.
Sawer told AFP that the combative nature of politics in these countries could normalize “aggressive behaviour”.
A comprehensive review published in November 2021 found that one in three people working at the Australian Parliament House had experienced some form of sexual harassment.
The same review, by the Australian Human Rights Commission, also found a boys’ culture pervaded the building, fueled by frequent episodes of heavy drinking.
“I often describe Parliament as the most sexist place I’ve ever worked,” one respondent told the authors.
Gender policy researcher Blair Williams said fixing sexist culture was never going to be easy.
“It is difficult to solve a huge problem, a long-standing problem, with one or two solutions,” he told AFP.
“We are still hearing these accounts of sexual harassment and assault happening in the halls of power,” he added.
Williams said Australia’s parliament was way behind the times, 30 years after a similar “account” reshaped the country’s business sector.
Australia has only had one female prime minister, Julia Gillard, who was relentlessly bombarded with sexist jokes while leading the country from 2010 to 2013.
While Australia has increased the number of women sitting in parliament, it has so far done so much more slowly than other countries.
In 1999, Australia had the 15th highest proportion of women in its parliament, according to rankings compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
By 2022 it had fallen down the table to 57th place.
Williams said this was an easy place to start.
“I think if there were more women in parliament, maybe the culture would be a little bit better.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)
