Anthony Albanese says Labor agrees “essentially” with Malcolm Turnbull’s code preventing ministers from having sexual relationships with their staff because “all workplaces should be safe workplaces for women”.
The federal Labor leader told the ABC on Wednesday night the opposition had convened an all-staff meeting on Tuesday in the wake of a Four Corners program that aired allegations of inappropriate conduct by two government ministers.
“We had a meeting yesterday of all staff to remind them of what [our] procedures are,” Albanese said on Wednesday. “We think that all workplaces should be safe workplaces for women and we also, importantly, understand that we are in a particular leadership position.”
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has criticised Labor this week for failing to adopt the Turnbull code which was introduced by the then-PM in early 2018. But Albanese said Labor supported “essentially the same principles” and had its own sexual harassment and bullying procedures that were adopted during the last parliamentary term.
Asked if it meant all Labor MPs could not have sexual relations with a member of their own staff he said: “Yes.”
Albanese said any complaints were resolved via a reporting process through his office and an external procedure in place with the Department of Finance. “I am not aware of any complaints being made it must be said … from within Labor offices,” he said.
The opposition leader said there was “an issue last year which involved staff-to-staff members and a complaint was made and that was dealt with to the satisfaction of the woman involved”.
Albanese’s comments followed the former deputy leader of the Western Australian Nationals saying she had been subjected to “bullying, threats and intimidation” from within the party.
Jacqui Boydell said she felt compelled to speak out about a “culture of silence” surrounding the treatment of women in politics after Four Corners this week reported on allegations of inappropriate conduct by two senior Liberal party ministers in the Morrison government.
In a late-night speech to the WA parliament, Boydell said on Tuesday she was “exceptionally disappointed” with Morrison’s response to the Four Corners allegations after the prime minister ruled out taking any action against the two MPs.
“The issue about consensual relationships etcetera is a matter for the people involved and the prime minister to work out, but the prime minister cannot ignore the distress of those women and the description of the events that have happened to them in that parliament and those political organisations,” she said.
Boydell, who plans to retire from parliament at next year’s state election, said she regretted remaining silent about the treatment of women in politics “in the interests of the party”.
“I, too, as a senior member of the Nationals WA, a former deputy leader, a female state director, and a deputy leader and leader of the Nationals WA in the Legislative Council, have to, unfortunately, declare myself as one of those women who has stood by and remained silent when I have witnessed, at times, actions that I have not thought to be acceptable,” Boydell said.
“Indeed, there have been situations in which I have found myself subject to bullying, threats and intimidation.”
Boydell told the parliament she had “failed” in her attempts to tackle issues surrounding the treatment of women internally and said political leaders needed to accept there was a system of “unconscious bias in dealings with women in political organisations”.
Her speech comes after Rachelle Miller, a former media adviser to cabinet minister Alan Tudge, lodged a formal complaint accusing him of engaging in workplace bullying and intimidation.
Miller, who had an affair with Tudge while working in his office, lodged the complaint with the finance department last week before she revealed the relationship on Four Corners on Monday. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, it accuses the minister of “belittling” and “humiliating” behaviour while she worked in his office.
While she says the affair was consensual, Miller in her complaint states that Tudge’s treatment left her feeling “anxious and afraid”.
Miller also reportedly wrote that there was a “strong expectation and culture” in parliament that staff members were expected to “keep quiet, ignore and bury bad behaviour and protect the Liberal party at all costs”.
“There was no active promotion of a zero-tolerance culture within [ministerial staff],” she wrote. “I know of some staffers who lodged formal complaints about bullying and were promptly sacked by their ministers. Of course, we were afraid to speak up. We knew that we were able to be sacked by our minister.”
A spokesman for Tudge told Australian Associated Press the minister “was not aware of any previous complaint”. “As appropriate, the minister anticipates that the Department of Finance would conduct an independent inquiry into this matter,” the spokesman said.
Tudge issued a brief statement following Four Corners saying it had aired “matters that occurred in my personal life in 2017”. “I regret my actions immensely and the hurt it caused my family,” he said on Monday. “I also regret the hurt that Ms Miller has experienced.”
