The Morrison Government has hogged Australian news headlines this week for all the wrong reasons, but this time that has nothing to do with their policies. Brittany Higgins, a former staffer for Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, has emerged with claims a male colleague raped her in Reynold's Parliament House office in 2019 after a staff party. This follows a report about widespread sexual misconduct and misogyny among male Liberal Party members last year on TV's Four Corners.
I watched that report, and despite my distaste for the Liberal Party's policies (for any non-Aussies, they're the conservatives here), I found it all too convincing; there were simply too many female Liberal members prepared to speak about their treatment in it for it not to be. Therefore, while her allegations remain unsubstantiated, I believe Ms. Higgins (at least for now). Inevitably, this week has turned her life upside down and so I won't show a photo of Ms. Higgins, but whatever one's politics, we need to listen to her on these personal matters and to any other female politicians who may make similar allegations.
Now, being sincere and for balance, I want to also say it would be very naive to suggest the Liberals are the only party who are guilty of sexism and sexual misconduct. All the others who are need to clean their acts up, and all parties everywhere should use this awful story as a learning curve.
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