Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a personal statement under standing order 190.

Leave granted.

Yesterday I made remarks in relation to another senator. I then had to withdraw them because the rules of the Senate do not allow you to speak about someone's character, only about something they have said. So today I will speak about my experience of parliament.

When I started I was a new senator. As all women that have walked the corridors of this building know, it is not a safe place. You are often alone in long corridors with no windows and in stairwells hidden from view where there are no cameras. This was my new workplace. This is the workplace women in this building know. I experienced sexual comments and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men. One man followed me and cornered me in a stairwell, and most of this was witnessed by staff and fellow members of parliament. No-one witnessed what happened in the stairwell, as there are no cameras in stairwells. I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interest of their careers and fear they would be presented to the world by the media in the same way that I have been today.

There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault. What I experienced was being followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched. I was afraid to walk out of the office door. I would open the door slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out. It was to the degree that I had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building. That is how the Greens supported me, and I thank them for that.

To me, it was sexual assault, and the government at the time recognised it as such. At the time, I spoke to the President of the Senate about it. I spoke to my colleagues about it. I spoke to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, about it during her inquiry. I spoke to senior leaders in the Liberal Party and was assured the Prime Minister was informed. At the time, I was convinced that the government believed me. Their actions in immediately moving the person's office reassured me that they understood the seriousness of what I experienced. I did not make the incident public at the time, because it was during the time Brittany Higgins had made her experience in this building public. I did not want to have anything taken away from Brittany's experience and her bravery in coming forward. I believe that was the right decision.

My faith in the Liberal Party was not the right decision. Until yesterday, I thought they had taken this matter seriously. But then, yesterday, I had to listen to a senator who has made me feel unsafe speak on how important it is to keep women safe in parliament. Silence is violence, and yesterday I could not stay silent as someone who has knowingly made me feel unsafe had the gall to stand up in front of parliament and preach about protecting women. This was not an isolated incident. There are others I could name who have inappropriately touched me, invaded my space and knowingly made me feel unsafe. I am disappointed by the reaction of the senator. Instead of stepping up and taking accountability for the fact that he made me feel unsafe, he denied it. He asked his lawyers to send a letter—the same lawyers who represented Christian Porter. This type of behaviour makes it harder for other women to come forward. The standard we walk past is the standard we accept for ourselves too.

We have a situation in parliament where parliamentary staffers come to me to speak up about their own experiences of abuse, rather than go through the formal channels. This is not surprising. When women, girls and gender-diverse people—especially black women, sistergirls and brotherboys—seek help from authorities, we are so often met with negligence, dismissal or further violence. Too often these conversations remain in closed spaces where the allegations are covered up and the silence on gendered violence is maintained. This only serves to uphold a system of abuse that avoids legal and political consequences, where the legal system is used to intimidate and silence, backed with the threat of money and time. Accountability in this country remains a theoretical, academic pursuit—a nice talking point; a lovely aspiration—but I will not passively accept this. My testimony is one of action and resistance every day in this place. Violence against women, girls and gender-diverse people is the product of gender inequality and systemic gender based discrimination.

On average, one woman a week is killed in this country. One out of every five women in Australia will be sexually assaulted or raped in their lifetime, and, if you are not white, those statistics are even higher. Perpetrators are made by certain conditions. If we want change, we need to change those conditions. I will not pursue legal action against the senator. I will not go to the police. This is my choice. But I will continue to speak out against the abuse and harassment that happens in this building. That is my choice. I want to focus on making this place safe for everyone, and at this moment it is not a safe place for women. I call on the government to immediately increase the number of security guards in the building and cameras in the corridors and to consult women who work here on what measures can and should be taken. I send my love and solidarity to all women, girls and gender-diverse people out there who have experienced the many different forms of sexual violence. To all those survivors: we must continue to stand strong, stand together and never be silenced.