Unless you have been hiding under your doona for the last week and singing la la la, with your fingers in your ears, you could not help but be aware of the odd happenings in the life of Labor parliamentarian Emma Husar.
Our own version of Lois lane [Alice Workman at BuzzFeed] has been on the case for us just so that you don’t miss anything that is likely to titillate you over your cornflakes. But it was these breathless revelations that got me intrigued and I had to have a closer look into this matter [that wasn’t intended to be a pun but, you decide]. One of the allegations against our Emma was that :
“It is alleged that you and [redacted] attended Mr Jason Clare’s office at Parliament. Mr Clare was sitting on the floor playing with his son. [Redacted] alleged that he was sitting opposite you and that on three occasions you spread your legs, revealing that you were not wearing any underwear. [Redacted] felt that your conduct was deliberate, proactive and targeted towards Mr Clare.”
Another allegation possibly from a distressed male staff member was that ‘Husar had her right breast against his left shoulder and arm for about 10–15 seconds. On another occasion in September, he alleged Husar rested her right breast on his arm’.
How on earth are you expected to respond to allegations of that sort beyond perhaps observing that she is clearly not favouring one breast over the other – no workplace discrimination there !!
The media really piled on when video was taken of one of Husar’s staffers walking her dog and horror of horrors picking up after the dog ; can you imagine how they would have reacted had the staffer not picked up ?
These allegations, and others have been leveled against Ms Husar and submitted to her for comment by barrister John Whelan who has been commissioned by the NSW Labor party to look into these matters. Whelan is an experienced professional in dispute resolution. The questions he was asking of her were based on numerous allegations made against Husar by former staffers and other well-wishers.You can read more about them here : Labor MP Emma Husar Is Accused Of Sexual Harassment And Diverting Thousands Of Dollars Into Her Personal Bank Account
According to BuzzFeed Over 200,000 words of evidence have been given by at least 20 witnesses in the Whelan investigation so far ‘and nearly all the witnesses have given evidence anonymously’, evidently out of fear of repercussions from the powerful Right faction of the NSW Labor party.
Wait a minute, anonymous allegations, how can that be ? How can an individual be expected to respond to often salacious allegations of misconduct when the accuser refuses to be identified ? If BuzzFeed is correct and ‘nearly all ‘ of these allegations of wrongdoing are coming from anonymous sources, the person against whom the allegations are being made (Husar) is surely at an immediate disadvantage by being prevented from adequately examining his or her accusers, and fundamental natural justice is denied.
This confidential questionnaire from investigator Whelan to Husar appears to have been leaked to the media and you have to wonder if some of these anonymous accusers are supplying the media feed. Husar is expected to respond to these allegations within days and we can only hope that her responses will not be leaked by a well-wisher before the investigation is concluded.
Cutting through the salacious aspects of this issue it seems clear that it is factionally fuelled within the NSW Labor party with lots of side-line barracking and encouragement from the Liberal party who seem to be trying to link this to their kill Bill campaign. It appears that no matter what, the future of Husar as an effective member for her electorate on Lindsay has forever been tarnished and yet again we see the risks that people, in particular women, take when they aspire to public office.
The allegations today are even worse. Keep on mind there was earlier disagreement with a staff member that I believe Shorten was involved with. He was moved. Husar is a friend of Shorten & his wife.
They are now accusing her of abusing her daughter or something.
It’s time for Shorten to show true leadership. If NOTHING is found against Husar, Shorten must step in and send a clear message to everybody: the voters, Labor supporters, women…. and the idiots in the NSW ALP, that lies and deliberate and unjustified character assassination are not on!
Parties in NSW: Libs, ALP and even the Greens, always seem to be in a bit of an internal mess…. What the hell is wrong with NSW????
I think it is a witchhunt also and the only thing worse than the initial attack has been the cowardice of the ALP upper echelons in going on with it this long, despite Jason Clare’s refutation of one of the main allegations.
Just reading Noely Neate, an old sparring partner, and agree wholeheartedly with her comments.
Perhaps it’s more factional rubbish going on there.
And who are the scabs who dumped on her?
To me it seems that someone wants the focus to be on her and not on Michaelia Cash…about whom I have seen very little since her case was referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Excellent observation Diane
..to watch three men on Drum,( or was it Insiders) earnestly discuss Emma’s underwear on OUR ABC was too much for me…
I now see my News on SBS, for entertainment I go to on the Demand in search of “soothing” Scandi Noir, good books are also there waiting to be read…
Diane, indeed why make fuss about Emma’s peccadillos and not talk about what Michaelia did…
Diane, You have nailed it. This is all ‘look over there’.
Troubling but not commented on thus far, is that it appears Emma Husar had unknowingly employed in her political office, a censorious and eagle-eyed up-skirting (name redacted) voyeur.
For any new parliamentarian, managing your assortment of staff in your electoral office is no mean feat, given your focus is on your work in parliament and meeting with groups and individuals across your electorate, and still trying to keep your immediate family relationships healthy, on-side and intact.
I do wonder what guidance and assistance the various Parties offer to their humble back benchers around these matters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hAi1m0RFeM
Actually, all this stuff has me nostalgic and yearning for the old days of the “Melbourne Truth”.
Well said, Diane. Now what has happened to the MIchaelia Cash investigation?? C’mon AIMN, you must have the resources, skills and contacts to provide us with an update.
[Personally I think Michaelia Cash does a wonderful impersonate of a brothel madam].
Pretty rough sort of knock shop NEC?
Well said Alpo and Diane.
I agree.
It’s Time for Bill Shorten to be a leader and support Husar.
Of course, Buzzfeed.
Snap.
Having established their creds re Cash, they are free to run heaps of under the table muck raking more likely to be afforded by rich conservatives against the Greens or Labor.
Alice Workman was anything BUT convincing on the Drum a couple of weeks ago.
Diannaart, methinks, as usual, there is behind the scenes faction feuding and Shorten is lying low.
Paul, methinks you are correct – of course there are behind the scenes feuding and Shorten has expertise in lying low. I’m not expecting much at all.
Yes. It is very sad.
There has been no Womanhood support for Emma, the Buzz Feed girl went after her like a wounded bull…maybe it was that foreign sounding surname of Emma…
My apologies to Dr Jennifer Wilson, who wrote good article about this on IA..
This has been a witch hunt from the start,I wonder how long the photographer had to wait to get the photo of her staffer picking up the pool, something stinks here ,and it certainly isn’t the poo
Helvi, you are right about Wilson.. if only IA would get their log in system working and strange she didn’t put it up at her own site when it is up elsewhere.
Looks like she has it much the same as most here..something genuinely rancid in the state of Denmark. I do not like Alice Workman, for reasons I have explained elsewhere, including above.
I do not like the Drum at the moment either.. at best incompetent, at worst censoring to save the PM’s hide as to his sinister Barrier Reef nonsenses
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Ps, I wish AIM would get IT’S Login in working also… am having to rewrite name email each time ..it is not “remembring” my details.
I read somewhere that the person alleging the Sharon Stone flash, and the right breast on his arm is the son of someone who is a Liberal.
Thanks Paul, I thought it was only me who had to do it.. as for Alice, there’s not much to like….
Not much to go on with the Albanese 730 interview tonight either. I wonder if any of these orgs and people have anything but custard for backbones.
Looks like many folk are not being “up front” with us.
Deborah,
There are two complainants who have gone public. One is the son of former NSW police minister Peter Anderson and the other is a staffer whose daughter left home because of her mother’s reaction to her being gay and went and stayed with Ms Husar which caused very bad blood between Husar and the staffer.
Alice Workman tried to say that the complaint has real substance….so why did she choose to print the salacious bits? They sound utterly ridiculous to me. As do most of the claims. But I will wait to hear the findings of the investigation, as Workman and the complainants should have done.
Deborah, that sounds entirely plausible.
Why do I keep thinking of what the Liberal Party did to Craig Thomson and Peter Slipper?
The Liberal Party I would assume is now heavily into their undercover campaign to discredit Labor prior to the next election.
They would have developed a shortlist of who best to systematically target.
This is a sad development though.
Emma Husar ran counter to the mainstream politician : young, female, not a lawyer, from western Sydney, advocating for measures against domestic abuse, and, for the NDIS.
A loss to the parliament, whose potential as an MP has been cut short.
As for Alice Workman ….. if she is to become a respected journalist, she has much to learn in the ethics department ….. unless of course she is angling for a job in one of Rupert’s rags.
This has been a truly ugly episode.
It certainly is an ugly episode and liable to get even uglier. One thing I’ve noticed from the conservative side of politics in particular is their tendency to play the man rather than debate policy.
I can only comment on the time since Whitlam but since then every leader of the ALP has been personally vilified in some way and attempted to be scandalised.
Their relentless campaigns against Thomson and Slipper are typical of their playbook but they have had their share of chair-sniffers and embezzlers too..
As for Husar, if only they paid the same degree of attention to Barnaby Joyce’s behaviour toward his staff (and there was more than one he was involved with) and other women in his Party that have raised complaints about his behaviour.
Better still, if would be the decent thing to wait until matters are investigated and discuss the facts rather than launch into rumour and gossip, but I suppose “it’s in their DNA” and also sells a lot of newspapers for their main handler.
A Federal ICAC would reveal many things about the misuse of taxpayer funds and suspect Ministerial behaviour and I’m sure they have a lot to be worried about.
helvityni, yes that’s what I do! News on SBS and scandi-noir! ABC seems too preoccupied with being “unbiased” so they give air to rednecks.
I note Phil Coorey of the Financial Review this morning saying that Husar’s action in announcing that she will not re-contest her seat at the next election has to some extent pre-empted the government’s planned ‘fortnight of joy’ attacking Labor and in particular Bill Shorten when the parliament sits next.
Then you have Mitch Tubby Fifield sounding all puritanical and demanding that Bill Shorten come clean and tell the truth. So, it’s on again, they are going to go after Husar and Shorten just as they did with Craig Thomson.
Why would they do this you may ask, at a time when surely they have more important matters of national governance to occupy them. It seems they don’t they have no policies they have no vision for this country but they do have form when it comes to smears and attacks on the opposition.
…the Buzz Feed and IPA shout the loudest on Drum and on Insiders, Leigh ,on 7.30, tells Albo that Bill is not liked, not once but twice…..
My reply would have been: Yes but, Labor has been ahead in polls 36 (?) times. Policies matter more to us than the suits the PM wears…
Speaking of bullying. The media are into it with relish. Channel 7 this morning gave it more air time with Koshie jumping to conclusions. Obviously guilty without trial.