Kate Ellis Parliament needs to change!

THE FORMER LABOR MP TALKS TO WHO ABOUT THE SUCCESSES AND STRUGGLES OF WOMEN IN GOVERNMENT AND WHY SHE’S SPEAKING OUT

- Sara Tapia

Kate Ellis had only been a politician for a few weeks when she was approached in a Canberra bar during after-work drinks by a junior male staffer. “[He said], ‘The only thing anyone really wants to know about you, Kate, is how many blokes you had to f--k to get into this parliament,’” the former Labor MP writes in her new book, Sex, Lies and Question Time. “Sadly, those things are so common that by the time I left I probably wouldn’t even have remembered that story – it would just be blended in with all of the others,” Ellis tells WHO. “You do just become a bit acclimatised to it.”

The “it” she is referring to is the toxic workplace culture of Australia’s parliament. The 43-year-old spent 15 years in various MP roles, introducing national quality standards for childcare and finalising the national plan to end violence against women and children.