This week there’s been fireworks at various Senate estimates hearings as members of various committees attempted to get information out of government ministers and their senior civil servants. Especially in relation to the ongoing issue of the treatment of women in political workplaces.
It would be fair to say that estimates became required viewing….the Game of Thrones of Canberra.
But was anyone getting any answers? The short answer is no.
Laura Tingle, who has worked in the political gallery long enough to call a spade a spade, put her finger on it when she asked Senator Penny Wong on the ABC’s 7:30 programme Wednesday night if she had noticed a change?
“I mean, these are supposed to be hearings where you’re able to talk to public servants and find out what’s going on,” observed Tingle. “But there seems to be an extraordinary level of stonewalling that we haven’t seen before.”
“This week is a new low from a government that has made the avoidance of accountability to the parliament one of their hallmarks,” agreed Senator Wong.
While the most talked about revelation to emerge from estimates was the fact that Phil Gaetjens, the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, had suspended his investigation into who knew what when in regards to the alleged rape of former political staffer Brittany Higgins, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about another exchange from a hearing earlier in the week.
On Monday, Labor Senator Jenny McAllister put to Senator Marise Payne, in her capacity as Minister for Women, a question that I have long wanted to ask myself. “Is it an impossible job being a Minister for Women in a Morrison Government?”
Now I have made no secret of my feelings about our current Minister for Women and the fact that she has been effectively missing in action on how the pandemic has disproportionately impacted on women.
In July of last year, I actually sat down and calculated the number of times the minister made public statements (as judged by her comments on social media) that had anything, anything at all, to do with women and COVID-19.
The answer: just under 5 percent of her public statements were in relation to women and COVID-19.
Yes, I also asked my eldest daughter to make a meme of Senator Payne in which she superimposed the Minister’s head on a picture of Wally from Where’s Wally and begged the questions: Where’s our Minister for Women? But don’t judge. It was in the depths of the second Melbourne lockdown and I needed some home-schooling tasks to fill the day.
I have also made no secret of my contempt for what has been referred to as the “handbag brigade”, i.e. the Liberal women paraded in front of the media to defend the indefensible.
The most recent, egregious example: Anne Ruston, Linda Reynolds and Michaela Cash’s spirited defence of “that” budget, which many (credible) women, including yours truly, rightly called out for failing to deliver for women. A highlight, no doubt, was Anne Ruston feebly telling the ABC that women will enjoy driving on all those new roads the government stimulus would fund.
But when Senator McAllister asked Senator Payne on Monday night if it “is an impossible job being a Minister for Women in a Morrison government”, I have to admit, even I felt for a Minister so clearly under siege.
“No Senator,” was Payne’s response to McAllister’s very pointed question ….and then there was a very long silence as both women exchanged what I can only describe as a knowing look that Payne’s answer was complete and utter bullshit.
The week before, I watched on with similar unease when Channel 10 political reporter Tegan George literally chased Payne through the halls of Parliament (to be fair, the Minister apparently tried to do a runner instead of a promised doorstop) to put to her this question: “Can you understand why Australian women feel disappointed and let down by you?”
As I watched these two incidents, I couldn’t help but wonder out loud if Payne and other Liberal women were questioning the limits of their “soft diplomacy” in relation to these issues. But, to be fair, I concede that they are not entirely out of stop with a softly, softly version of corporate feminism – asking for things nicely and making the “business case” while accepting crumbs from the table – that has dominated the landscape here in Australia for far too long and delivered few results.
It didn’t take long for me to get my answer. By the end of the week, a number of high-profile Liberal women had wrestled with their conscious and indicated that they’d had enough.
As Catherine Cusack wrote in the Guardian, “It has reached a point where our personal integrity is being pitted against our loyalty.”
Industry Minister Karen Andrews told the ABC that she’s had “an absolute gutful of the workplace culture” in Parliament House. She also said that “her conscious would no longer allow her to stay silent”.
Cusack’s piece in the Guardian ended with a rallying cry for other women in the Liberal Party to “tell him”, meaning step up and make a powerful case for change to the Prime Minister.
I would add, though, that this isn’t just “women’s work” and the Prime Minister has to do his part to create the kind of environment where women in his party can speak freely and make that case for change, not only to him directly, but to the women of Australia.
And the women in the Liberal party must speak passionately not only about the kinds of workplaces they want for themselves and their staff, but the kinds of changes we need to make Australia a safer and fairer place for all women.
If women in the Liberal Party can’t speak freely — or if they are sidelined, ignored or bullied into a complicit silence – then, as Senator Jenny McAllister observed, what is the point of a Minister for Women in a Morrison government?
I am, of course, presuming that our current Minister for Women Marise Payne has something she would like to say. If that’s the case, I’m certainly listening. And without wishing to speak for all the women of Australia, I suspect a fair few would also welcome hearing from our elusive Minister for Women.
Don’t just “tell him”. Tell us.
Kristine Ziwica is a regular contributor. She tweets @KZiwica