- By Hannah Ritchie
- BBC News, Sydney
Image supply, Getty Images
Karen Andrews visits the US as Australia’s minister for residence affairs in 2021
A outstanding Australian politician says she has been subjected to ongoing harassment contained in the nation’s parliament.
Former cupboard minister Karen Andrews alleges an unnamed male colleague used to “breathe on” her neck and make crude remarks in the decrease home.
Australia’s parliament has been marred by experiences of widespread sexual misconduct.
In February, each homes agreed to new codes of conduct for MPs and staffers.
“I’d just be sitting there minding my own business and I would have the back of my neck breathed on and if I asked a question, it would be: ‘That was a great question, thrusting and probing,'” Ms Andrews advised the ABC.
“But do you know what the issue is? Well, there would be people that would say: ‘Can’t you take a joke?’… and sometimes I do call it out, but sometimes I just go: ‘I can’t be in every fight.'”
Ms Andrews was one of the senior ladies in Scott Morrison’s former coalition authorities, serving as each the minister for trade and the minster for residence affairs.
She has repeatedly spoken out concerning the harsh therapy of ladies in federal politics and earlier this yr she introduced she would retire on the subsequent election – which is able to happen by 2025.
A former mechanical engineer, Ms Andrews spent her pre-political profession in male-dominated industries, however says it was solely in parliament that she confronted gender-based discrimination.
“I went to politics and it was the first time I’ve ever felt I had to fight for things simply because I was a woman,” she advised the ABC.
Mr Van strongly denied the complaints and stays in parliament, regardless of being dismissed from the celebration.
The accusations sparked renewed debate concerning the security of ladies working in authorities – a difficulty that has plagued Australia in latest years.
In 2021, former Liberal celebration staffer Brittany Higgins went public with allegations that she had been raped metres from the prime minister’s workplace by a co-worker after hours in 2019.
The report additionally detailed widespread bullying and incidents of precise or tried sexual assault.
