As the Australian government responds to yet more revelations about toxic male culture inside parliament, newspapers worldwide have reacted in horror, with Germany’s Der Spiegel warning that the news has put the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in “dire straits”, in a story headlined “Australia’s government is sinking into a scandalous swamp”.
This week a whistleblower alleged that Coalition staffers were swapping videos of themselves engaging in sex acts in Parliament House, including on the desk of a female Coalition MP. The whistleblower claimed that the building’s prayer room was often used for sex and sex workers had been invited into Parliament House by a former minister.
The revelations follow accusations made by the former staffer Brittany Higgins that she was raped by a colleague in a ministerial office, and a cabinet member being accused of sexual assault in 1988.
Berliner-Zeitung reports that “sexism in politics has sparked an avalanche of indignation in Australia” and that Morrison’s critics have accused him of “dealing awkwardly with the affairs”.
In France Le Monde reports that Morrison, “whose position was already shaken by his handling of several cases” has seen his executive “further weakened” by the videos of staffers engaging in sexual acts in Parliament House.
Le Figaro noted that Labor, the opposition, “which has a quota system, is not immune to accusations of sexism and harassment, which have notably been compiled on a dedicated Facebook group”.
In the US the Washington Post focused on what it termed Morrison’s “disastrous” press conference on Tuesday, with the headline, “Facing fury over sex scandals, Australia’s leader fights tears – then retaliates in outburst at reporter”.
Morrison “sought to calm public anger on Tuesday – but ended up digging a deeper political hole”, the Post wrote, referring to the prime minister’s claim during the press conference that News Corp was dealing with an active claim of workplace harassment, made in response to a question from a reporter.
The Post also quoted Kirstin Ferguson, “a leadership and culture specialist who advises the leaders of large corporations” as saying: “The fish rots from the head … I just can’t imagine what would happen if there was a board responsible for Parliament House.”
Morrison later apologised for his “insensitive response” to the reporter’s question.
Bloomberg focused on the Coalition’s falling ratings, writing: “With Australia’s economy on the rebound, Covid-19 largely suppressed and vaccinations underway, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government should be riding high. Instead, its ratings are the lowest in over a year amid criticism of his failure to address sexual violence and inequality.”
