In a sold out event, former Australian of the Year Grace Tame and former Liberal staffer who triggered the #MeToo movement Brittany Higgins addressed the national press club.
The two powerful women used their experiences to slam Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as they both condemned his handling of sexual violence against women both in parliament and in Australia at large.
When Grace took to the microphone, she condemned the Prime Minister after she received a threatening phone call from a senior member of a government-funded organisation, telling her to not besmirch the PM’s name “with an election coming soon”.
This claim immediately triggered an investigation by the government, along with a statement from the PM saying he had not authorised any intervention in such a threatening nature.
As it came for Brittany’s turn to speak, she slammed Scott Morrison’s comments that became public after Brittany disclosed her assault, with the PM seemingly only finding empathy when he thought of the situation “as a father with daughters”.
In response to this, Brittany said, “I didn’t want his sympathy as a father. I wanted him to use his power as prime minister. I wanted him to wield the weight of his office and drive change in the party and our parliament, and out into the country.”
When both women were asked if they planned to enter politics, they both answered no, claiming they could “achieve more outside of politics”.
While Grace Tame admitted that former Labor leader Kim Beazley “did try to sway me”, Brittany said after the horror she was put through in the walls of Parliament House, she was now “stateless”.
With the impending federal election on the horizon, a journalist in the room asked the women what Labor leader Anthony Albanese could do better in the handling of sexual assault issues if he became prime minister, with Grace responding, “All Anthony would have to do is nothing that Scott’s done.”
Image credits: Getty Images
