It’s boys behaving badly again in a political party – this time the NSW Nationals.
The Sydney Morning Herald 4 July 2014:
A NSW Nationals MP verbally attacked a female cabinet minister, threatening to "tear her a new orifice" and saying she had "never had a real man", because he was angry at her department's decision.
The attack on then environment minister Robyn Parker was made by Murray-Darling MP John Williams in front of about 100 Nationals members during his bid for preselection for the upper house in April.
Ms Parker was raped as a teenager, and had spoken about her ordeal in parliament in 2004, recalling she nailed her bedroom windows shut in the aftermath.
Multiple sources who attended the Nationals preselection meeting on April 4 at Parliament House said they were offended by Mr Williams' comments. The event was filmed, but the slurs went uncensured by party leaders in the room, including deputy premier Andrew Stoner.
Mr Williams emerged as an endorsed candidate, albeit in the almost unwinnable fourth position.
Critics said the attack highlighted a "boys' club" culture within the Nationals that was alienating women from politics. The leak of the incident comes as the number of women in the NSW upper house from all parties is set to plummet…..
1 comment:
I actually gave up trying to set up a Liberal Party branch here in the Clarence Valley and succumbed and joined the National Party thinking I could do some good from withing the party, not the least of which is to get them back on track with their policies rather than their self interested empire building activities. Once the local branch i.e. the Grafton Branch of the National Party discovered that I had joined they immediately made a complaint to the NSW National Party HQ's Ethics Committee to have me removed from the party. The basis for the complaint was that I was the one who protested the Tribute Dinner to Steve Cansdell after his forced resignation from the State Seat of Clarence. I was also the one who supported the 'whistle blower' who had been bullied into taking the points from one of Cansdell's many traffic infringments. Ironically the Ethics Committee found I had no case to answer because at the time of the protest I wasn't a member. The greater irony is that Steve Cansdell is still a card carrying member of the NSW National Party and NOT A SINGLE complaint has been made to the Ethics Committee about him or his continued membership of the National Party.
Post a Comment