Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Respect is at the heart of this matter. So many in this place and the other, so many around Australia, who have experienced matters such as this, who are reliving it are being retriggered by the continued and compounded actions of the opposition. People in this community who listen to what happens in this chamber have moved from watching the appropriate questions of the opposition to a creeping sense of horror at the politicisation and the continued abuse of not just this woman but of others, and the absence of respect. It is not the role of the opposition to act like investigator and judge and jury.

It surprises me, because the opposition has made quite a deal of calling for an increased number of women to come to politics and into this place yet it is our role to provide something different, something additional in coming into this place. A sense of compassion, a sense of the human element, is so incredibly important and that has tragically been lost, as I said, in this ongoing compounding of the abuse of not just this woman but of any other person who has suffered a sexual assault. I feel deeply ashamed to sit here and be a part of this performance.

We all agree that every workplace should be a place of safety, that every person should have the confidence to come forward, to report any such allegations of incidents, yet I think we have done irreparable damage because every person who has suffered at the hands of such an attack must now be wondering: is this going to happen to me? Am I going to be paraded through the streets for some political benefit? This is now a matter for the appropriate people to investigate, for the police to investigate. There is a deep determination, I'm sure, from all who work in this place, to ensure that we do change, that we do improve, that we do build a culture where there is an independent reporting process. The Prime Minister— (Time expired)