With Australia’s economy in the recovery, Covid-19 largely suppressed and vaccinations in progress, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government should be on the rise. Instead, his ratings are the lowest in more than a year, amid criticism of his failure to deal with sexual violence and inequality.
The prime minister, who has created an image of an affable suburban father, is facing an increasing reaction from voters angry at the way he handled rape charges in parliament. When new allegations of sexual impropriety emerged on Tuesday, he risks losing control of the political narrative if he does not meet the demands for action.
Although Australia is not expected to go to the surveys until the first half of 2022, Morrison cannot afford to leave matters unresolved, especially if he wants to focus on economic reconstruction. The national demonstrations of tens of thousands of women who swept the country point to a potentially powerful voice in the forthcoming elections, demanding greater female representation in parliament and tough actions against sexual violence and discrimination.
“The next election should have been an easy journey to the government’s victory due to the treatment of the pandemic, but now it is not because of Morrison’s incorrect treatment of women,” said Paul Williams, political analyst at Griffith University in Brisbane, who said the issue is not threatening the government’s immediate viability.
Losing popularity
A Newspoll published last week showed that its coalition is 4 points behind the main labor opposition, 48% to 52%. The betting markets that predicted a comfortable victory for the government in the upcoming elections are narrowing.
On Tuesday, Morrison said a member of the team involved in “disgusting and unhealthy” behavior in parliament was fired in the most recent coup against his conservative government, which has already suffered rape charges.
Scott Morrison at the parliament in Canberra, Australia, on March 23.
Photographer: Sam Mooy / Getty Images
Read More: Protests signal calculation in Australia’s fight against sexism
The announcement came after Ten Network broadcast allegations that a group of male government officials had shared images and videos of obscene acts. A photo showed a man masturbating at a lawmaker’s table.
Although the Morrison government has long been accused of failing to adequately address women’s issues, including measures to increase the proportion of coalition lawmakers by 23%, allegations of sexual assault now threaten to undermine his government’s credentials and political agenda.
They it started in mid-February, when a former media adviser in the defense ministry, Brittany Higgins, claimed that she was raped two years ago by a colleague from the House of Parliament and was discouraged from alerting the police.
So Attorney General Christian Porter found himself the target of accusations of rape by a colleague on the school’s debate team in the 1980s – he says he vehemently denies it. Morrison refused to conduct an investigation into the allegations and Porter remains Australia’s first bailiff.
“It was a month of such reports,” Morrison said on Tuesday, as he seemed to stifle tears. “This has been shocking, it has been shameful,” he said, adding “we must fix it”.
“Very angry”
For Kate Ahmad, a neurologist from Sydney who helped organize the March 4 protests in Australia, Morrison’s words are empty.
“He seemed insincere to me because, once again, he offered no solution,” said Ahmad. “There was nothing practical about that press conference that will make a difference in the lives of women.”
Ahmad said the campaign is now a unified national movement, after demonstrations were held in more than 40 cities and towns last week.
THE The March 4 justice demands include an independent inquiry into Porter’s allegations, improving funding to support victims of domestic violence, implementing recommendations from a report on sexual harassment in the workplace, and introducing a quota system within the coalition Liberal-National to ensure that more women enter parliament.
Although Morrison said on Tuesday that he was “open” to gender quotas in his Liberal party, he left most other issues unaddressed.
The issues appear to have surprised Morrison, 52, who has a reputation for being an experienced political operator who won the “invincible” election in 2019, helped by his intrinsic knowledge of the media. But now he is stumbling over his negotiations with the press.
During a press conference on Tuesday, he told a News Corp. journalist. who should “be careful” when criticizing the government’s history and noticed the media company was investigating a complaint about a woman’s harassment in a women’s bathroom. News Corp. dismissed the claim as “simply false” and Morrison issued a statement apology late at night for his “insensitive response”, adding “I was wrong to get it up, the emotion of the moment is no excuse.”
Morrison was criticized for handling Higgins’ accusations, especially after saying that his wife Jenny helped him realize its seriousness after persuading him to consider the matter as the father of two girls.
Female activists also contested her statement in parliament that the March 4 justice demonstrations were a “triumph of democracy” because in other countries these marches were “received with bullets”.
“I have never seen such anger among women who are generally not political,” said Ahmad. “And although women are half the population, there are many men who are also disgusted.”
(Updates with Morrison’s apology to News Corp.)