Is anybody else disgusted by the behaviour of some people in parliament house?
First we have Britney Higgens allegedly being raped in a minister's office.
Then that minister calls Britney "a lying cow".
Then there's allegations of another minister raping a woman years ago and nothing can be done by the police because that woman killed herself.
Then there's many more women admitting that they were abused within the political arena.
Some people are told not to say anything because it will be the end of their career. Isn't that just reinforcing that misbehaviour is rewarded?
Then the Prime Minister starts a mea culpa and finishes up falsely accusing the reporter's organisation of having harassment claims. To me that makes the PM's mea culpa unbelievable when he quickly turns on someone doing his job and not answering a relevant question. Is he genuine when his expression can turn that quickly when the interview is not going his way. He's making this issue not only about himself, by referring to his wife and daughters, but he's turning it into a political issue whereas, it's a nationwide behavioural attitude towards women.
Now Britney Higgens is making complaints to the PM's office about alleged smears of her partner. The very fact that the PM's office has made those investigations show the disgusting attitudes of those in parliament house.
I may have the order of these outrageous situations and exact facts but the point is that all over the world women are abused and yet those in parliament house don't realise that and are making it a political thing. How can they expect respect for women when they can't do it themselves? And these are our supposed leaders. What hope is there for equality?
And tonight, on the TV I see that a NSW Nationals MP has resigned form the Nat Party and gone to the cross bench because he has been accused of bashing a sex worker. OK - innocent until proven guilty (how do you prove such a claim beyond reasonable doubt?), but go back 3 steps...
What was a MP doing having any close relationships with a sex worker in the first place? What sort of people are being elected into our parliaments? What are the moral ethics of the people who are there? I wonder......
Isn't it amazing how we can turn an allegation into a hanging offence.
There is no proof whatsoever that any of these allegations are true......especially the lady who alleges she was raped but police not interested...I wonder why...might have something to do with evidence.
If you are found guilty of rape or abuse you deserve the full force of the law ....leave the grand standing out of it.
There was a time when successful people, after forging a career in their chosen field, then entered the world of politics. They brought with them the experiences of their successes and their appreciation of a prosperous and generous society with an aim to serve their country.
These days we either have staffers or ex union hacks who know no other life than to toady to some serving member whilst they await their turn to stick their snout in the taxpayers trough. Very few bring relevant life experience with them. Their meagre contribution is a bit of student politics whilst obtaining some half ar$ed degree in political science. Once there, they know their little secrets will be safe as they do their masters bidding in the warm glow that any questions asked will be met with spin, refusal to answer or outright lies by their leader.
Professions set high standards which must be met if one wishes to continue practising that profession. These clowns are not professionals however, with their mantra being "don't get caught".
-- Edited by DMaxer on Friday 26th of March 2021 08:54:55 AM
is parliament house all that much different to a lot of other work places ?
there must be a lot of stories to be told of people with power abusing their position an the people who suffer at their hands having no redress
Barnaby Joyce lost his portfolio and is still in the background but these 2 ministers concerned at the moment look like they will keep their high positions.
Makes one wonder sometimes.
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Age does not weary us, makes us go travelling more
Everyone, regardless of their gender, race, colour or creed, has an absolute right to a safe and inclusive workplace without having to suffer any form of harassment.
That said, the current crop of crap happening in Federal Parliament at the moment should not be played out in the media circus.
If someone has a complaint of a sexual nature, particularly rape, the proper forum for those allegations to be brought forward and aired is the courts.
If someone had assaulted me I would certainly be wanting to see them face justice as soon as humanly possible.
That young miss Higgins was so reluctant to have an official charge laid against her alleged rapist but seemed very happy to have her face and story splashed over the front pages of every newspaper and on every news channel in the country, certainly doesn't do her credibility any favours in my eyes.
That she accused ministers of not helping her when she refused to make an official complaint and therefore there was little the ministers could do other than firing her alleged attacker for a security breach, and this has caused a good women minister to look like losing her position, is quite disgraceful in my opinion.
When is Brittany going to accept some responsibility for her own actions or lack thereof. And I am not talking the alleged rape here.
That another troubled women suddenly makes an allegation of historic rape 33 years ago against another senior minister before topping herself also gives rise to the credence and validity of her story.
These two ladies may well be telling the truth but the media is not the way to go about it. Trial by media will never get to the truth nor does it give the accused a fair trial to which they are entitled. It is very easy to accuse someone of horrendous actions but those accusations need to be properly tested.
I have no doubt that there are men working in our parliament that are sexual deviants with low or non existent moral fibre who should not be in any work place and in fact should probably be behind bars. I agree that they should be rooted out and got rid of for the good of all, but the police are the agency to do that, not some reporter who wants a sensational story line in tomorrow's paper.
And let's not forget this has been happening for a long time, Scotty boy seems to be copping all the blame, but it seems like it's been a toxic place for sometime
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Age does not weary us, makes us go travelling more
IMHO all the politicians State and Federal need to be sacked. and we start again,and leaders get voted in on their merits not on their sex, colour, religion or anything else.
Just my thoughts bb
DMaxer, you are spot on with your post. I have long since been extremely disapointed with the calibre of modern day incumbents that enjoy the perks of high office, yet seem to make little or no worthwhile contributions to the running of the country, and, now on top of this failure, we have the disgusting recent events in parliament. Moral and ethical standards have reached a new low.
Whilst I'm sure that a lot of first timers go into the parliament with hopes of making a difference, they soon learn that the party line is all that matters if you want to achieve ministerial status and the ability to have a large knife handy is also a prerequisite. Cynical and fed up with pollies? Yep DMaxer you summed it up perfectly.
-- Edited by Magnarc on Friday 26th of March 2021 02:01:13 PM
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Those who wish to reap the blessings of freedom must, as men, endure the fatigue of defending it.
no one has been charged with anything, it is trial by media .
the police should investigate any allegations and if sufficient evidence can be found perpetrators should be charged and dealt with by the courts .
anyone can make accusations proving them is an other story
I'm not yelling. I'm only using capitals in the grammatically correct position. If I was yelling, ALL MY CHARACTERS WOULD BE IN CAPITALS!
I'm using larger font because the GN Web interface is very difficult to see on small smart phones as mentioned on a different thread. Also, someone mentioned that people use tiny fonts and they don't like it. Hence, my use of larger fonts.
Isn't it amazing how we can turn an allegation into a hanging offence.
There is no proof whatsoever that any of these allegations are true......especially the lady who alleges she was raped but police not interested...I wonder why...might have something to do with evidence.
If you are found guilty of rape or abuse you deserve the full force of the law ....leave the grand standing out of it.
(I'll try a smaller font)
Yes. The allegations should be solved via the law but the main point is the response by the politicians, and probably other men in high positions, isn't appropriate.
Making the allegations political is not what's needed. The attitude of people towards women needs to change but that is not happening in parliament. The politicians need to develop policies that that shows respect towards women.
As I've mentioned in another post:
. There needs to be a global change in attitude so that women aren't sexually harassed and treated as second class citizens. Comments from, our supposed leader, politicians such as, "ditch the witch" ; "lying cow"; "Blokes don't get it right all the time" ; "If a young girl is going to get so disgustingly drunk she can sleep with anybody, she could sleep with a spy and our national security is at risk,"; "don't say anything or it's the end of your career" ; and acts of MPs escorting prostitutes to prayer rooms ; mastubating on female MP's offices.
The next generation will see this as acceptable behaviour. To fix it " Women need to be elevated to positions of power to reduce male domination in all aspects of life. We must challenge the undermining of women's and girl's autonomy and value when boys exhibit it, to break the chain of passing on these negative attitudes."
All public servants must abide by the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct. Aren't politicians public servants, so shouldn't they also abide by the Code of Conduct? They're supposed to serve the public but they appear to be a law unto themselves.
The public servant, who mastubated in parliament house, has been sacked, but I would imagine that the minister, who escorted two prostitutes into the prayer room, will get off scot free. How can politicians expect respect when they have these perks and attitudes?
I tend to agree with bowiebd. Sack the lot of them but what alternatives are there?
I know that one has to be a liar to be a politician and misogynistic seems to also be a prerequisite for many but surely they have to have the interests of the people in order to represent them? Apparently not.
Serif fonts are easier to read, I always use them when writing a letter.
A long time ago, I seem to remember a study found that Times Roman was the easiest font to read, hence its use in most novels, but it's not the default in this web interface, which also makes it difficult to change. In fact, I've already had to change it twice whilst typing this reply. Shoddy web interface design, but I digress from the original post.
no one has been charged with anything, it is trial by media . the police should investigate any allegations and if sufficient evidence can be found perpetrators should be charged and dealt with by the courts . anyone can make accusations proving them is an other story
My point exactly.
Nobody should have to prove themselves innocent.
This lady was banging in the ministers office and got caught by security...no investigation...no charges laid....end of story.
Serif fonts are easier to read, I always use them when writing a letter.
A long time ago, I seem to remember a study found that Times Roman was the easiest font to read, hence its use in most novels, but it's not the default in this web interface, which also makes it difficult to change. In fact, I've already had to change it twice whilst typing this reply. Shoddy web interface design, but I digress from the original post.