Prime Minister Scott Morrison has urged his colleagues to stick together during a testing time for the government as it faces a political storm over the treatment of women and internal anxiety over whether the issue will drive voters to Labor.
Mr Morrison told Coalition MPs to stay focused despite pressure that could knock them off course, likening the future to a wilderness trek in which any slip could bring them undone.
PM Scott Morrison compared the government’s position to previous times when it had walked a narrow track to victory – an apparent reference to the May 2019 election.Credit:Edwina Pickles
Coalition MPs said the remarks acknowledged a series of challenges including setbacks in two opinion polls this week and Labor’s attacks on Mr Morrison over his response to Monday’s protests seeking justice for women.
Mr Morrison compared the government’s position to previous challenges when it had found a narrow track to victory – an apparent reference to the May 2019 election.
“We’ve been on narrow paths before, colleagues, and we’ve walked them together,” he told the gathering of Liberal and Nationals MPs.
“Sometimes the path is wide and the walking is gentle, but the path is now narrow so we must watch out for each other and we must support each other.”
Mr Morrison made the remark after telling of his personal experience walking the Black Cat trek in Papua New Guinea, including one point where he had slipped and been helped by a local guide.
MPs interpreted the remarks differently, with some saying it was about this week’s debate about the treatment of women, while others thought the polling was part of the context.
The government lost ground against Labor in a Newspoll survey published on Monday, while Mr Morrison’s personal approval rating fell in an Essential Research survey on Tuesday.
Mr Morrison’s language echoed a part of the Liberal Party’s review of the last election, which said the “path to victory in each election will remain worryingly narrow” unless the party rebuilt support in Melbourne and other areas.
Speaking on condition they not be named, MPs conceded the past four weeks of debate about sexual assault, starting with reports of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, had fuelled community anger and meant the government had to respond.
South Australian Liberal MP Nicolle Flint told the meeting the past month had been difficult for all, especially women, in a reference to Ms Higgins and a separate historical rape allegation against Attorney-General Christian Porter. Mr Porter denies the allegation.
Other MPs backed Ms Flint, who was the subject of personal attacks at the last election by GetUp and others, and said the government had to fight the “Labor narrative” that the Coalition was anti-women.
But there were differences over how to tackle the issue, with one MP saying the Liberals and Nationals had to increase the number of women in Parliament and to work harder to create a pipeline of female candidates for the next election.
Speaking after the meeting, one MP praised a “powerful” speech to the room by Western Australian Liberal Celia Hammond about the need to act on the underlying problems in the treatment of women rather than engage in a political dispute.
Ms Hammond, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia, said she understood why some wanted to attribute blame to others but this would not answer community concerns.
“When they go low, we should go high,” she said of the government’s critics.
“We’ve got a real issue and we’ve got to address it.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese used question time to accuse Mr Morrison of failing to listen to the women who protested on Monday and ask him whether he regretted his remark on Monday about the way protests were “met with bullets” in other countries.
But when Mr Albanese mentioned the anniversary of the Christchurch terrorist shootings in his question, Mr Morrison accused the Labor leader of a “very unworthy and egregious slur” that sought a partisan advantage.
“What issue could he possibly have other than a twisted attempt to pervert what has been said?” Mr Morrison said. “This demonstrates that on this issue the Leader of the Opposition does not act in good faith.”
Labor challenged Mr Morrison to hold an independent inquiry into the accusations against Mr Porter but the government dismissed the calls by drawing a parallel with the closure of the Victorian Police investigation into rape allegations against former Labor leader Bill Shorten in 2014.
Mr Morrison said Mr Shorten had argued in 2014 that he could “draw a line” under the matter because the police had closed the investigation.
“I have applied exactly the same approach to this matter,” Mr Morrison said of the allegations against Mr Porter.
“The double standards the Labor Party are seeking to apply here are simply quite galling.”
NSW Police set up a strike force in February last year to consider the allegations against Mr Porter but suspended it in June when the woman making the allegations took her own life. The police said earlier this month they had closed the investigation.
Mr Porter intends to return from personal leave on March 31 but parts of his portfolio will be delegated to others while he takes defamation action against the ABC over its report about the rape allegations.
The structure will remove Mr Porter from responsibility over the Federal Court, the ABC or defamation law reform.
Labor is also facing questions over whether any of its federal MPs or advisers have been accused of sexual harassment or assault, after reports this week about a Facebook group in which women shared experiences of harassment within the party.
Mr Albanese has asked people to come forward if they have allegations to make against MPs or advisers.
Mr Morrison told Parliament it was up to Labor to get its house in order on the allegations.
“When they’re standing in glass houses, they should not be throwing these types of stones,” he said.
Earlier, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the party room that the economy would keep growing as the JobKeeper wage subsidy came to an end later this month, but he acknowledged the risks in the short term.
Mr Frydenberg told the room to “be prepared for a rough couple of months” and said the government would respond with targeted support.
One day after Mr Porter took defamation action against the ABC over its report about the historical rape claim, one MP called for a new body to hear complaints against the public broadcaster.
While Mr Morrison called for focus and unity in the regular Tuesday meeting, the party room heard open division when Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan cited warnings in Europe over the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Senator Canavan repeated remarks he made to the media earlier on Tuesday about pausing the vaccine rollout to heed concerns among European regulators.
Liberal MP Katie Allen countered that argument by asking a pointed question to Health Minister Greg Hunt about where MPs could go to find expert advice on vaccines.
Dr Allen, a paediatrician before winning the seat of Higgins in Melbourne at the last election, was backed by other MPs who rejected Senator Canavan’s concerns.
One MP warned against over-reacting to overseas reports without enough evidence.
Mr Hunt told the meeting Australian regulators backed the continued rollout and offered another briefing on the vaccine to the Coalition party room if members wanted one.
National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au).
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