Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
More than code of good conduct needed
TALKING POLITICS
OPINION: It is easy to cite the factors that can make
Parliament a toxic work environment. The long work hours, the heavy workloads, and the sudden and unexpected bursts of high stress do not help matters.
Neither does the sharply hierarchical power structure, which fosters a service culture of entitlement that’s conducive to bullying and harassment.
Parliament employs a lot of surprisingly young people who have been hired to meet the needs of a relatively small number of the senior managers, MPs, and Cabinet ministers who wield virtually unbridled power around the precinct.
On both sides of the Tasman, the systems for handling allegations of sexual harassment and assault against parliamentary staff are being called into question.
In Australia, the rape of the young Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins two years ago in the office of a Cabinet minister has become a national scandal. Recently Higgins finally met up with Australian PM Scott Morrison for what was reportedly a ‘‘robust’’ discussion about how the system had let her down, and how it needs to be reformed.
Almost simultaneously, our Parliament was again rocked with accusations and recriminations concerning a sexual assault allegation made by a parliamentary worker.
This incident had already resulted in a $330,000 defamation payout after Speaker Trevor Mallard falsely described the unnamed alleged assailant as a rapist. When reporting to the House as the Minister of Parliamentary Service, Mallard became embroiled in fiery exchanges with National MPs.
Neither side emerged well from the fracas. Mallard seemed more intent on justifying himself than with reporting on the needs of actual and potential victims. Similarly, Opposition MPs appeared intent on attacking Mallard personally and on defending the natural justice rights of the alleged assailant. In the process, the women at risk were all but ignored.
That, at least, was the conclusion drawn by PM
Jacinda Ardern, who criticised both Mallard’s lapse in professional standards, and the political opportunism of his opponents. Ardern called for a victim-centric approach in line with the recommendations of the 2019 Francis inquiry into the parliamentary workplace. It was unclear just what concrete changes Ardern thought this should entail.
The Francis review had found evidence of systemic bullying and harassment, with MPs facing little or no accountability for their behaviour. Around
Parliament, the names and reputations of several serial offenders were open secrets.
In the light of similar evidence in Australia, Brittany Higgins has called for the creation of an independent office with investigative powers; a place where parliamentary staff could bring their complaints about harassment or worse, in the knowledge that their complaints would be handled sensitively, and free from party political exploitation.
It does seem strange that formal processes exist to independently manage MPs’ pay rates and the gifts they receive, and to enable them to operate free from outside interference.
Yet no equivalent processes exist to ensure that the parliamentary workplace is functioning safely and that MPs, and employers, are held accountable.
If last week’s cage fight between Mallard and his critics proved anything, it is that more is required than a code of good conduct and the hiring of a few more HR managers at Parliamentary Service.