At a time where the government admits a considerable number of Australians are feeling cost of living pressures and the Reserve Bank seems intent on a policy of ‘the beatings will continue until morale improves’, what is the media talking about? Cost of living pressures – nope; the creation of more affordable and social housing – wrong; the implementation of measures to ensure we don’t cook the planet before our kids hit middle age – wrong again. They are talking about who knew details around a rather sordid affair in former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ office late one night after a staff party well prior to the last election.
Without going into what is claimed to have happened (because we weren’t there and neither the owners of this site or I can afford the lawsuit that would probably follow any discussion), there are two sides to the story. After a court case that was aborted due to the actions of a juror, there have been claims of defamation and a Board of Enquiry into the actions of the Australian Federal Police who are responsible for policing the ACT, lead by Walter Sofronoff KC, the eminent former President of the Queensland Court of Appeal and former Solicitor-General of Queensland.
We can talk about the constant reporting of ‘fascinating’ new information about the events in Senator Reynolds office and its effects on others who have been through similar alleged experiences. Certainly, the Opposition seems to be of the opinion that the ends justify the means by pouncing on the ‘revelation’ that the current Finance Minister, Katy Gallagher, may or may not have known about the events in Senator Reynolds’ office before it was public knowledge and said nothing at the time.
The ‘airing’ of text messages on an individual’s mobile phone is not conclusive of anything. The Opposition should be aware of this as they spent public funds on advertising around cyber security for years to scare the naive into believing they were at risk if they voted against the Coalition. Assuming the text messages are genuine, there may be a lot of reasons why it was deemed to be best to keep the knowledge private. To claim that is a breach of some Parliamentary convention while Howard ‘core and non-core promises; Abbott ‘carbon tax’, and Morrison’s ‘multiple ministries’ are all considered acceptable practice by the same people that are now baying for blood is beyond contempt.
Not that the media is any better. Why was this matter considered worthy of a 15-minute discussion on the ABC’s Insiders last Sunday (11 June)? Did any one of the so called experienced political reporters actually think about what damage continually bringing this matter up would do to viewers who have undergone similar alleged experiences? Of course not. One of the panellists last Sunday was heavily involved in the initial reporting of the matter in Senator Reynolds’ office and seems to have an agenda to defend her reporting at all costs. Despite the claims of caring about the truth or the physical and mental health of the participants in this case, the conversation might have been acceptable around the water cooler ‘back in the day’ when gossip regarding the behaviours and infidelities of others was conversation fodder, but not on national television in 2023.
The initial reporting of the incident elevated the discussion around the toxic work environment at Parliament House and the rights of all individuals around consent and acceptable behaviour. Highlighting the poor behaviours was a good outcome. But it seems we all left the moral high ground some time ago and we’ve ended up down in the gutter talking about the latest rumour and innuendo.
If these people are Insiders, they should know better than continually bringing up an issue that causes genuine hurt and distress to many. If any of the Insiders panel do have evidence they believe the Board of Enquiry is not considering appropriately, as ‘insiders’ you would imagine they would have the knowledge and ability to contact Mr Sofronoff’s office. If they don’t or won’t, really they are no better than the self-proclaimed Outsiders on SkyNews ‘after dark’ talkfest most weeknights where ultra conservative agendas are pushed without any sign of balance or fact checking.
For most of us, remembering what we have for lunch last Tuesday is not that easy, let alone the words that we used in anger two years ago. We have all said and done things in our past that in retrospect we aren’t proud of. The Opposition should be ashamed of holding others to a higher standard than they hold themselves. The behaviour of Peter Dutton and those that are promoting this salacious gossip as news show no remorse for their past behaviour and more tellingly, no intention of holding themselves to a higher standard now and in the future. Those in the media who have reported on this obvious Coalition muckraking as newsworthy should hang their heads in shame.
Reporters are supposed to hold politicians to account for their actions, not join the dogwhistles of a political hit job. The talking heads on Insiders last Sunday should know better.
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