Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to associate the National Party with the contributions of both Senator Birmingham and Senator Keneally. On behalf of the National Party, I have a brief contribution to make.

We have the report and we have a pathway to change. Today, we honour the incredible bravery and strength of character it's taken by all of those who have spoken up and told their stories. To each of you, I'd like to say, we hear you and we stand with you. What has occurred here over the years hasn't been acceptable. It's not who we strive to be as a collective and as individuals, and it's not who we should be. We should be a workplace—an exemplary workplace—where our best and our brightest, irrespective of their political views in a liberal democracy such as ours, seek to compete to work in and for our nation to make it a better place. Sadly, not just in recent times but over a long period of time, this hasn't been the case. We want every person to feel safe and secure, no matter where they live, work or operate in this country, and sexual harassment and assault is never okay anywhere, anytime.

The report highlights both cultural and structural issues with this workplace. In a bipartisan way we will work towards addressing those together, because this isn't an issue of one side of politics or the other—one chamber or another; one office or another—this is a shared problem over a long period of time, and that joint acknowledgement by our generation of parliamentarians is the real breakthrough. Many of the people who are now MPs were staff 20 or 30 years ago—I'm not one—and have seen this particular workplace evolve and change over time. But one thing hasn't. I'm very proud to be part of a government that's taken a step but also a member of a generation of parliamentarians who will work together to see the cultural and structural change that this workplace needs to deliver, and we need to be united in this commitment.

One of the key recommendations of the Jenkins report is for our parliament to reflect and think about what those appropriate changes need to be. To paraphrase one of the greatest minds—a brilliant scientist but also a woman—Marie Curie: 'We all share a responsibility for all of humanity, and progress is never swift or easy,' and anyone who thinks it is or that it will be solved by an apology or one report is kidding themselves. Today will be remembered as the hallmark of a new way of reflecting on who we are and what we stand for and where we want to be as a united nation and people—our unity reflected in a respectful workplace, in our national capital, reflecting the diversity of Australian political views as well but united that sexual harassment and assault is never okay.

Thank you for the brave men and women, former staff, current staff, MPs, who fed into this report. I also want to acknowledge that many of these people still work in this building and, for this process, it has been a difficult time. Everybody has their own story. Everybody knows someone—a sister, a mother, a child, a friend, a work colleague—who has a very personal story to tell in this space. That is why this spark around the March 4 Justice last year was so powerful and why I was very proud, with other National Party MPs and senators, to join those people on our forecourt. I might not have agreed with all the political messages that were being espoused on that day but absolutely stood in solidarity with the principle that sexual assault and harassment is never okay. I want to ensure that we understand and acknowledge that for many people, when we stand up and talk about this stuff, it does trigger reflections for them.

We welcome the review and thank the commissioner for the exceptional work that has gone into the report. We will continue to implement all the recommendations as outlined. We are all privileged to serve. We will be the generation that takes this responsibility very seriously. The Nationals are committed to not just talking about change but ensuring, both as individual MPs and as a collective, that we work towards that end.