Lanai Scarr: True leadership is the only thing that will change Canberra’s appalling behaviour

In my 11 years reporting from the frontline of the nation’s centre of democracy, the 46th Parliament has been by far one of the toughest emotionally. Domestic violence, sexual abuse and misogyny are themes that have felt omnipresent. It’s been extremely hard to be a woman in this building during the course of this Parliament and in particular a woman with a long tenure here. I’m proud to be a woman who runs an all-women bureau. Despite the spotlight having shone brighter than ever before on issues impacting the lives and mental health of women over the past two years due to the bravery of people like Brittany Higgins and Rachelle Miller, and there being reviews launched and actions taken, Parliament simply doesn’t feel any nicer a place for women. It feels like we’re being willed on to say things are better, but the reality is they are not. Support lines and better processes are a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t mean things are “better”. Not yet. Eleven years in the Canberra Press Gallery means I have seen and experienced the full range of behaviours towards women here. And to display why stronger action is still so desperately needed before this will ever be a place I would want my children to work in, here are a few examples just from very week we have experienced. On Tuesday afternoon after the horrifying 456-page Jenkins report as I was on the phone in a parliamentary corridor I had a male MP walk past and say to me casually, “You look very dressed up to be at work today”. Two days later, the morning after Ms Miller made her powerful and emotional statement on her alleged abusive relationship with now stood-down Education Minister Alan Tudge, a senior male staffer in a work exchange about a story texted me to ask if I was “having a fun week”. In another incident, I had to sit and listen silently as two men discussed why Ms Miller’s claims now should not have been aired because the relationship was “clearly consensual”. It took the Prime Minister four hours after Ms Miller’s aired her allegations about abuse to make public his decision to stand Mr Tudge down while an investigation was conducted. Mr Tudge denies all allegations of abuse. A story on Thursday afternoon said he would release text messages between the pair as part of his defence. An investigation by Vivienne Thom will review the matter and report back to the Prime Minister. We don’t know the outcome of that investigation and people should always be given the presumption of innocence. One thing is true, however: if domestic violence and harassment are to be stamped out, they need to be taken seriously and spoken about in such a way. Words need to be matched with actions. Printing small cards to point to a 24-hour support line and placing them in nondescript parts of the building where they are hardly seen isn’t what will change the culture in this place. True leadership from men and women will.