Photographer: Brendon Thorne / Bloomberg
Photographer: Brendon Thorne / Bloomberg
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Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said a staff member involved in ‘disgusting and sick’ behavior in parliament has been sacked. This is the last blow to his Conservative government, which has been plagued by allegations of rape.
The Ten Network Monday night broadcast allegations that a group of male government officials shared images and videos of lewd acts for two years, including photos of one of them masturbating on the desk of a female lawmaker.
“The actions of these individuals show a staggering respect for the people who work in Parliament, and for the ideals that Parliament is supposed to represent,” Morrison said in a statement. “This is not good enough and is completely unacceptable,” he said, adding that the staff member in the middle of the allegations had been fired.
Read more: Protests mark a diversion in Australia’s fight against sexism
The latest incident comes a week later Thousands of women rallied in Australia to protest sexual violence and Morrison’s handling of rape allegations over decades and a separate alleged sexual assault in parliament in 2019. Support for Morrison’s government fell to a 13-month low in the latest Newspoll published on March 15 and it is now the largest opposition of Labor, 48% to 52%.
Democrats at the Justice rally on March 4 in Melbourne, on March 15.
Photographer: Carla Gottgens / Bloomberg
The government is under fire for refusing to investigate allegations that Attorney General Christian Porter raped a fellow member of a debate team at the school in 1988.
There has also been increasing criticism of Morrison’s handling of allegations that Brittany Higgins, a former government media adviser, was raped by a fellow staffer in a ministerial office.
In response, Morrison ordered that Kate Jenkins, commissioner for sex discrimination, conduct an independent inquiry into Parliament House workplace culture.
Morrison said Tuesday he is very sad because many women believe he has not heard their calls for change.
“These events have caused women throughout this building and throughout the country to have endured all their lives with this clutter and this cloud, like their mothers did, like their grandmothers,” Morrison said.
Foreign Secretary Marise Payne, the most senior woman in Morrison’s 22-person cabinet, which includes 16 men, told a parliamentary committee on Monday night that the latest allegations revealed by the Ten Network were “appalling”.
“The degrading nature of the actions, which have been shown in the media, is disappointing,” she said.
(Updates with Morrison Commentary in 8th, 9th Paragraphs)