TOGETHER FOR CHANGE

As allegations of sexual assault and harassment swirl around our federal Parliament, Samantha Trenoweth sits down with some of the most powerful women in the land to consider the issues that have shaken the nation.

- Samantha Trenoweth

What does it take to bring together women from all sides of politics to stand shoulder to shoulder and demand change? It takes a month like no other in Canberra, and an invitation from The Weekly.

“This month has been very much a breaking point,” says Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. “There is a reckoning going on. I fundamentally believe this. Women have had enough. Decent men have had enough. The politicians and community leaders who fail to see it do so at their peril I think.”

It was a month in which a snowballing sequence of events by turns distressed, angered and shocked Australians.

It began with federal government staffer Brittany Higgins’ allegations that she was raped in March 2019 on the Defence Minister’s couch, and came to believe that taking action would end her political career. Three further alleged victims of that same senior staffer came forward in the days that followed, as did former Liberal staffers Dhanya Mani and Chelsey Potter. They had worked for NSW state and federal government politicians, respectively, and had also reported alleged sexual assaults to their superiors, but had seen no significant investigations nor support for their personal recovery. Then Labor women began sharing allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in a closed social media group.

Meanwhile, the Equal Opportunity Commission revealed it had received eight reports of sexual harassment by MPs or their staff in the South Australian Parliament, which was described by Greens MLC Tammy Franks as a “19th century boys’ club”.