A group of female MPs have formed a cross-party support network, after the alleged attack on Indi MP Helen Haines showed how much they need one.
The Network of Women in Parliament (NOW) was announced on Thursday by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, shadow minister Melissa McIntosh, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young and independent MP for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie in a press conference at Parliament house.
In a joint statement, the four said NOW would build connections and strengthen relationships. They said it would create a space where women in parliament could share experiences and support one another, as well as learn from each other beyond party lines.
In a series of slides shared by Gallagher on Facebook, the founders said that despite differing political views, women in parliament share many of the same experiences, and even more so, the same challenges. They said as a group, they want to strengthen women’s voices in parliament and “stand together when it matters”.
At the centre of the argument is MP Helen Haines, after her alleged attack on October 19. Haines was allegedly struck by a vehicle outside her Wangaratta electorate office and has since lost both legs. The founding MPs said the attack showed how much having a platform for women matters, and that Haines has always modelled kindness, compassion and connection across political divides. In their words, she is “the spirit of what NOW is about”, and is an example of why they need to continue to band together as women in parliament.
The network arrives amid growing alarm over abuse of women in public life. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett told ABC’s Insiders this week that “pages and pages” of threat reports reach her desk, and that she hears of them almost daily. She said reports tend to escalate after policy announcements or social media posts, and that abuse of female parliamentarians is more individually focused than abuse targeted at men, and often involves sexual violence threats.
Greens deputy leader Steph Hodgins-May, who is not listed among NOW’s founders, has said she faces abusive and misogynistic comments almost every time she posts online. On Thursday she publicly confronted a commenter who called her a “stupid bitch”, filming herself phoning the man, a lawyer she traced online. She said he stood by the comment.
Hodgins-May described the abuse as the “unfortunate reality of being a woman in politics”, and said it was part of a culture that had normalised misogyny and harassment.
Gallagher has said women in parliament feel defiant but deeply shocked by the threats. NOW is designed to give people like Hodgins-May somewhere to turn after an event like this.
The network will officially launch on November 24, with money raised at the launch event donated to Save the Children, the charity Haines and her team have nominated for well-wishers.