This was progress,of a sort. But the code was to be applied only “wherever possible”,which is a pretty large loophole. Worse,the complaints policy specifically explained that anyone making false claims could be disciplined – which felt like a warning. In fact,to one of those former staffers,Chelsey Potter,it sounded like it was about “protecting alleged perpetrators rather than empowering women in the party to speak up”. Ultimately,how the code was enforced was to be left to the state divisions – the same institutions Morrison had blamed for the problem.
Morrison’s original response provides a small window into the high-pressured atmosphere that prevailed from the moment he took over as Prime Minister until the election nine months later. Those accusations of bullying came from senior female MPs and were serious:Julie Bishop even raised the possibility that the bullying hadcrossed into illegal behaviour. But they were pushed away,denied and minimised by the Prime Minister because they couldn’t be allowed to interfere with the election campaign.
What message would you take away if you were a young female staffer,holding information you knew could dominate headlines for weeks? And what message would you take away if you were the Prime Minister,after your tactics worked and you went on to win the election?
These questions are important in the light ofwhat happened to former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins. After she was allegedly raped in Parliament House,she said last week,she felt she had to choose between reporting it to the police and her career. This was not long before the 2019 election.
After an episode ofFour Corners aired late last year,the Prime Minister had another chance to send a strong message about the treatment of women. That program was partly about the behaviour of two ministers,and partly about problems with sexism in the Liberal Party and within Parliament House. When asked,Morrison defended his ministers,praised what had already been done and talked about the importance of feeling safe within a workplace. But this was a narrow response that barely dealt with broader questions of sexism.
It was clear that Morrison had made a political calculation that the program was not sufficiently explosive to require a strong response. As is often the case,Morrison’s reading of the short-term political dynamic was correct. As he had in 2018,he barrelled onwards.