Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I thank you, Mr President, and the Speaker in the other place, for the statement you have just given. I welcome and endorse the statement, its content, its spirit and its intent. It is a statement of unity, I trust, from this place, and of senators, to say sorry for the bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault that has occurred in Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces and to commit to doing everything we can do—individually as senators and collectively as members of this chamber and as parliamentarians across the board—to change culture and practice to make our workplaces safer and more respectful for everyone.

The impact of workplace bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault is profound for the individual victims of it, for their families, for their friends and for their workmates and colleagues. The impact on the work of the parliament in serving the Australian people is also significant. The skills, commitment, passion and drive that people have for making a contribution in this place is enormous. Commissioner Jenkins highlighted the contributions of many of the hundreds of individuals who contributed to her work, to her report Set the standard. I thank all those who participated in the various ways—by making submissions, by participating in interviews, by undertaking the surveys and through other engagement methods.

One of the quotes of so many that Commissioner Jenkins highlighted was:

I felt that I had no option but to leave that building, and it wasn't because I didn't like working in politics, it wasn't because I didn't enjoy staffing, but that office made it untenable for me to be in the vicinity of that building. And to even show up I was getting severe chest pain walking into the building.

That individual's loss, reflective of that of others who contributed to Commissioner Jenkins's work, is our nation's loss. The fact that we lose good people is a loss in each of our offices and a loss to the parliament as a whole.

This statement of acknowledgement delivered by you, Mr President, and by the Speaker today was the first recommendation of Commissioner Jenkins's report. Her report, as you acknowledged, was received in the final sitting week of 2021. And today, the first sitting day of 2022, we take the action of delivering upon that first important recommendation of acknowledging the harms that have been caused by saying, sincerely, sorry for those harms and apologising for the circumstances and culture that led to them and for the failures in systems in terms of the way in which they have been handled over time. We commit ourselves to change.

I thank Commissioner Jenkins for the enormous amount of work she did to ensure that the voices of current and former staff and of current and former parliamentarians could be heard through her review. I thank her for her guidance and feedback, not just in that report but through the process and the undertaking of that report and, subsequently, in the actions in implementing the report, including the drafting of your statement and the work around the procedures for it to occur today. This review and this statement would not have been possible—indeed, would not have occurred—without those current and former staff who were willing to share their stories and their experiences. I acknowledge all of them. Most of them, the vast majority, are unknown publicly—as they would wish, in terms of respecting their privacy. But I acknowledge those who have spoken out publicly as well. Those such as Ms Brittany Higgins, who has shown bravery in sharing her experience and who has also continued to engage constructively with Commissioner Jenkins; with Ms Stephanie Foster, who undertook the interim report and review last year for shorter-term responses the parliament could take; and with Ms Kerri Hartland, the chair of the leadership task force recommended by the Jenkins review to oversee the implementation of the recommendations. They all—both publicly known and named and those participating, advising and making their views known and experiences known in private—have played a role in bringing us to this point today.

Life is a journey of learning, of understanding, of growing. Each of us learns in different ways right throughout our lives. One of the great privileges of the jobs that those of us in this place have, serving as members of parliament, is the ability to learn from the diverse experiences of so many others right around the country as we engage in our jobs and seek to represent those who put us here. The events of the last year have been a period of learning for me, and I hope they have been for all others, as I have reflected upon the experiences that've been told—stories and experiences of my own office and those across the rest of the parliament—and thought about how we can do better and how we can change culture one step at a time through the actions of each and every one of us.

Today's statement is an important step forward. It builds on some steps that we as a parliament have already begun, including through our unanimous resolutions in this chamber and in the other place in support of the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service—established last year—and its independent complaints mechanism. It builds upon the steps that overwhelmingly we have all taken in undertaking the professional training that is in place, as well as the steps that have been taken through the provision of trauma-informed counselling across this parliament.

This statement of acknowledgement rightly identifies that those steps are not enough, that we commit to delivering upon the recommendations and acting upon the recommendations of the Jenkins review to make our Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces safe and respectful for everyone. These recommendations call upon all of us in parliamentary workplaces to show leadership. They are not a matter for any one party. I thank the opposition, the minor parties and the Independents for their cooperation and support from the early commissioning of the Jenkins review, the legal protections that were put in place for participants in that review, the conclusion and handling of the release of it, and, more recently, the establishment of a leadership task force and the initial steps towards implementing its recommendations.

As we implement those recommendations there will be legislation introduced into this parliament this week. There will be a motion to put in place other procedures to implement recommendations this week and there is much more work occurring in the background to deliver upon the other recommendations.

I look forward to the same spirit of cooperation and support across the chamber and the parliament in delivering upon all of those different aspects of this report. The cross-parliamentary approach has been a hallmark of what we have done to date and, as Commissioner Jenkins has said, will be vital for us to continue into the future. We owe our staff of today; the staff, members and senators who served here previously; and, perhaps most importantly, those who will come in the future, nothing less than to continue that cooperative, thoughtful approach to implementation of these recommendations.

I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues through the cross-parliamentary leadership task force and the ongoing work that we have to do to ensure that we do uphold the highest standards in all Commonwealth parliamentary workplaces—that we do, as Commissioner Jenkins's report is entitled, 'set the standard' appropriately for the nation. I thank the Senate.