Footage published on Friday by the Daily Mail show Joyce, inexplicably sprawled on the ground next to a planter box in popular Canberra precinct (well known for its plentiful bars and pubs), Braddon. Joyce is filmed having a phone conversation with his wife Vikki Campion while uttering the words: “Dead f**cking c*nt”.

Joyce has admitted to drinking prior to the incident, suggesting that a cocktail of a “prescription drug” mixed with booze led to “certain things” happening.

This morning, Joyce told Seven’s Sunrise that “obviously I made a big mistake” and “there’s no excuse for it” but “there is a reason”.

“It was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it,” he said.

“I should’ve followed … I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100 per cent right. They did.”

Mr Joyce said over the weekend that the incident was “very embarrassing” and happened when he was walking back to his accommodation after parliament had risen late at 10pm.

“While on the phone I sat on the edge of a plant box, fell over, kept talking on the phone, and very animatedly was referring to myself for having fallen over,” he told the ABC in a statement.

What our reaction to this story says about us

On Saturday morning, my partner and I were talking (and laughing…a lot) about the footage over breakfast. Our response, like much of the nation boiled down to this: “Standard Barnaby”.

Memes circulated across social media, and some quick-thinking Canberran humorously chalked an outline of Joyce’s body next to the planter box where the incident took place. I shared it on our Women’s Agenda group Slack channel with three laughing emojis.

But this morning, as I was thinking more deeply about the situation, I was left with a profound sense of shame. Because I know, in my heart of hearts, that if a female parliamentarian were to act in the same way, my response wouldn’t be to laugh it off and deem it standard practice.

We have always given social and cultural licence to male politicians acting like they live in a frat house.

We lauded former Labor PM Bob Hawke’s “world record” allegedly achieved at Oxford University for a beer scull of a yard of ale in 11 seconds. The admiration 40 years on is still so strong that Hawke has a brewing company and multiple beers named in his honour.

When Tony Abbott missed a series of key parliamentary votes in 2009 because he was drunk and passed out on a couch, we shrugged it off. When he broke a table in his office after his election loss, we did the same.

When Kevin Rudd’s trip to a New York strip club was reported, voters loved it.

We let male politicians off the hook for what we deem as “laddish” antics, when really what we’re staring down the barrel of is a total disregard for their privileged and highly public positions as well as their duty to represent the interests of voters.

And Joyce has always been given greater leeway. In 2018, Jacqueline Maley wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that a woman would not be afforded the “level of personal complexity” that Joyce is. We observe his regular transgressions and rather than question or condemn them, we relegate them to the wild world of Barnaby Joyce. It’s good to have a colourful character in parliament.

The prime minister’s response to Joyce’s latest misdemeanour is telling. Albanese firstly said the incident was a matter for the Nationals party, and avoided making a comment when asked about it during a radio interview on Friday.

When accused of sexism on the matter, Albanese then said Mr Joyce should explain himself.

But the truth is that Albanese wouldn’t have wanted to take an emphatic stance against Joyce’s conduct lest Australian voters accuse him of being a party pooper. No one likes a Barnaby buzz kill.

Yet, when Lidia Thorpe was filmed outside a strip club in Melbourne yelling explosively at a group of men (allegedly about Indigenous affairs), Albanese was swift and sharp in his condemnation. He described her behaviour as “clearly unacceptable” and urged her to “get some support”.

In 2021, Nationals Senator Sam McMahon lost her preselection race just days after accusations reared that she had been drunk in the parliament – which she denied and blamed instead on hypertension.

My point with this is not to condone the the abuse of alcohol by one group and not another, but to show how palpable the double standard is between men and women in politics. And how this double standard infiltrates and influences all of us.

Even me.

The post How Barnaby Joyce’s booze fest made me reflect on my own obvious bias appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Joyce posted a video to social media on Saturday night of himself at a local pub watching a Matildas game, however it was later discovered that it was a replay of the Matildas v France friendly match that had been played prior to the start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament.

Joyce and his fellow viewers did not twig that it was the wrong match until later.

Appearing on Sunrise on Monday morning, Joyce told host Natalie Barr that as the rest of the country held its breath as the Matildas endured a penalty shootout, Joyce was under the impression they had won with a clear 1-0 victory.

”I went to the pub to watch it on the weekend,” he said. ”And you’ll see it on the Facebook post – I think we were watching the wrong game.”

“I know it was an incredible penalty shootout which we never [saw]. We went and had dinner because we thought they’d won 1-0.”

On Saturday night, Joyce posted a video where he said: “In every country pub, city club, suburban home they are doing this tonight. Watching the Matilda’s. If someone had said 10 years ago that you would leave after the local rugby game to watch the “women’s soccer” I don’t think they would have agreed.” The video had footage of the television screen, which was showing a match that was not at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, where the quarter final was being held.

The post ‘Such is life’: Barnaby Joyce accidentally watched wrong Matildas match appeared first on Women's Agenda.

To be fair, it’s not a matter of you putting your foot in it. You genuinely, wholeheartedly, believe the tripe you peddle. But today especially, it showcased you for what you are: A man (in a party comprised principally of other like-minded men) who is fundamentally out of touch.

Appearing on Seven’s Sunrise this morning, Joyce claimed the newly-established federal anti-corruption watchdog, The National Anti-Corruption Commission, has already been politicised. Over the weekend, The Greens referred beleaguered consultancy giant PwC for its tax leaks scandal but also named Stuart Robert’s controversial dealings with consultancy firm Synergy 360 as a case needing review.

Robert, who resigned from parliament in May, has denied repeated allegations that he assisted Synergy 360 (a business owned by his friends) to win, and then personally benefit from, a number of government contracts.

Interviewed beside Labor frontbencher and Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, Joyce dropped a casual threat designed to instil fear in the Albanese Government.

“The thing I would be really careful about would be weaponising things before elections like the Brittany Higgins case and if we get a repeat with the Stuart Robert case, if it does not stack up the way you thought, it reflects very badly on the government,” he said.

“Now I imagine the commission will make its decisions about Mr Robert just like it might make them about the excess of $2.5m payment that was made to Ms Higgins under the auspices of the finance minister who apparently was in strong communication with them.”

And just like that, in the space of two sentences, Joyce proved why the coalition fails to comprehend the basic tenets of a corruption watchdog and why good governments commit to them.

Because for Barnaby and many others in the coalition, the agenda is always on keeping themselves covered rather than covering the interests of Australian taxpayers. A corruption watchdog is unfathomable for a party utterly entrenched in bro-culture and protection rackets.

(Not to mention the bare faced lie about Katy Gallagher signing off on Brittany Higgins’ compensation.)

And yes, I’m sure the Prime Minister has considered whether skeletons hang from the ALP’s closet. He may even be aware of some. But he’s at least unwilling to let the fish rot from the top by turning a blind eye.

Kiboshing a policy that will bring about change, and make it harder for individuals in the next government and the one after that to get away with the same dirty tactics would be a weak leader’s call.

True reform isn’t always the cleanest path. But for Barnaby Joyce and his friends in the dino alliance, the short term mess is never worth a long-term social gain. And it’s this mentality, demonstrated time and time again, that’s fast losing them favour with any remaining voters.

The post Barnaby Joyce proves why the coalition is fundamentally confounded by a crackdown on corruption appeared first on Women's Agenda.

We heard him label opposition leader Anthony Albanese “gutless” for declining an inquiry into the treatment of late Senator, Kimberley Kitching and suggesting he was “hiding” from the truth.

He described the situation as “distressing”, nobly adding, “I don’t think they [allegations of bullying] can just be dismissed”.

Well, I hope the Prime Minister’s ethics stretch now to himself.

Because last night, one of his own Senators, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells slammed him as not only “a bully” but an “autocrat” with “no moral compass”.

Recently relegated to an unwinnable spot on the Liberal party’s NSW Senate ticket, Fierravanti-Wells told the Upper House that Morrison was “not fit to be prime minister” and said he had “destroyed the Liberal party” through recent interventions in NSW branch preselections. She also took aim at his “portrayal as a man of faith”, suggesting he’d used this as “a marketing advantage” but his actions were conflicting.

Perhaps most sinisterly, Fierravanti-Wells accused the PM of racially targeting a Liberal colleague to cement his own preselection in the Sydney seat of Cook in 2006.

She said that as an aspiring politician, Morrison had pulled together a dossier against Michael Towke, a Lebanese Australian engineer, to destroy his reputation.

“I am advised that there are several statutory declarations to attest to racial comments made by Morrison at the time that we can’t have a Lebanese person in Cook,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells told parliament.

Morrison dismissed the claims on Sydney radio station 2GB today: “That’s rubbish”, he said.

Probed further about the Senator’s decimation of his character on ABC News Breakfast, Morrison noted that when people are “disappointed” they become susceptible to acting out.

“I know Connie is disappointed, having lost the preselection of some 500 members on the weekend,” he said.

“Six years ago I strongly supported her and ensured that she was able to be re-selected. She was very happy at that time.

“But now, after being unsuccessful on the weekend, I understand that she’s disappointed — and I join a long list of those that she’s said these things about at times like this.”

But of course we know that Fierravanti-Wells is not an anomaly. Her accusations against the Prime Minister echo countless other comments made by his coalition colleagues in recent times.

Indeed, only a last month we learnt of a text exchange between former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and a member of federal cabinet, in which the pair described the national leader as “a horrible, horrible man”, “a complete psycho” and “a fraud”.

Again, last month, leaked texts between Deputy Leader Barnaby Joyce and a former Liberal staffer surfaced, with Joyce branding the PM as “a hypocrite and a liar”.

“I have never trusted him, and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie”, he said.

Morrison’s response? As glib as his quick dismissal of Fierravanti-Wells this morning.

“What people send around in text messages I frankly could not care less about,” he said.

But doesn’t he get the fact that these accusations point to something far more egregious than irrational disgruntlement? Doesn’t he worry, even for a second, that such character assessments might actually hint at the truth?

As a voter (and a human) who cares about my place in the world and the way I’m perceived by those around me, I grow increasingly uneasy that our leader can so easily dismiss such severe and offensive statements made about him.

These are accusations made by those closest to him; those who have to spend long days (and probably nights) in his presence. These are people who hold considerable loyalty to the party they all represent, and know how damaging their claims may be. The fact they still feel compelled to share them, is telling.

I grow increasingly uneasy that our Prime Minister doesn’t see value in holding a mirror to his face.

Empathy is important. Feeling frustrated, fraught or hurt when you learn you’ve upset or angered someone close to you, is a normal human response. The fact our Prime Minister shows no sign of any of these key emotions is something we should all think deeply about.

And hopefully we get the chance to get to the bottom of it all, when Morrison calls an inquiry into his own dubious conduct.

The post Will the Prime Minister call an inquiry into his own alleged bullying? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

“Give me a break,” Joyce said on Monday. “These people are not worried about the environment; they just want to end up on television.”

“It annoys me that, what is that guy’s name? The chairman, Sharma with his gavel and ‘oh, I’m almost crying, I can’t do this’. He wants to talk about shutting down our coal industry, but he never talks about shutting down the oil fields in the North Sea.”

“All the corporate billionaires and all the movie stars and chairman Sharma and all the tears as they shut down our industries. But they don’t want to touch their own.”

Alok Sharma, a British Minister and President of the UN Climate Summit, told delegates the last-minute changes to the COP26 agreement were disappointing and, appearing emotional, said he was sorry – especially to climate-vulnerable countries – for the way the talks unfolded.

“May I just say to all delegates: I apologise for the way this process has unfolded and I am deeply sorry. I also understand the deep disappointment, but I think as you have noted, it’s also vital that we protect this package.”

At the summit, delegates from around the world applauded Sharma for his emotional response as he regained composure and continued his speech.

The COP26 pact included a final resolution to water down the language around coal, specifically changing the words “phase out” to “phase down”. The change came after a last-minute intervention from countries including India and China, and is considered a massive blow for nations most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis, who came to COP26 asking for greater ambition and more action from the highest-emitting nations.

ABC host Patricia Karvelas also asked Barnaby Joyce if it was fair to mock the COP26 president for being emotional about the negotiation process at COP26, but Joyce instead said he was cynical about the summit and those who are pushing for more climate action.

“Look at every airport chock-a-block full of corporate jets. Give me a break! These people aren’t worried about the environment,” Joyce said.

Joyce’s comments about Alok Sharma follow other comments that the Nationals did not “sign” on to the final COP26 communique, and the party he leads was happy with the federal government’s 2030 emissions targets as they are.

“The Nationals did not sign it. I did not sign it,” Joyce said.

“I am an executive member of this government. We are happy with our targets, with negotiations the Nationals had with the Liberals, and we said that we wouldn’t be changing our 2030 targets.”

“Let me ask you this, you are the Deputy Prime Minister and you are saying, ‘I didn’t sign it?’” Karvelas asked Joyce, after he said the Nationals, as part of the Coalition government, did not sign the communique.

“I know, you don’t have to keep telling me that,” Joyce said.

“How did it possibly happen that your government signed something that you reckon you didn’t sign? Are you not an executive member of this government?” Karvelas asked.

The continued fracturing of the Nationals with their coalition Liberal partners comes as Labor has said if it is elected, it will commission the treasury department to model the cost of climate change to the economy, and in the federal budget.

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison has indicated in the wake of COP26, that the government will not increase its 2030 target, despite Australia being a signatory to the COP26 agreement for countries to come back in 12 months having revisited and strengthened their 2030 emissions targets.

The post Barnaby Joyce mocks emotional COP26 president and says the Nationals did not ‘sign’ the summit’s communique appeared first on Women's Agenda.

I shared disgust at Joyce and others in the Nationals declaring they need more time on determining whether to commit to a net zero by 2050 target, the absolute bare minimum that Australia should be doing right now. Disgust at the fact it is Joyce who will get to determine the price that must be paid in order to have his tiny segment of the Coalition agree to the target.

Today, we need to talk about Resources Minister Keith Pitt, who refused to answer whether he thinks climate change is “real” or not, on ABC News Breakfast. “The climate’s changing, it’s always changed Fran,” he eventually responded, before noting that he doesn’t believe Australia can make “one iota” of difference on climate action.

Now, just days before those major international talks are due to commence, Joyce, Pitt and the Nationals continue to stall on agreeing to the 2050 commitment. They’re claiming that their four hour meeting wasn’t enough, that – as Matt Canavan, the former resources minister said – they’re “being asked to marry a girl we haven’t met”. Pitt said they have only had “48 hours” to consider a complex proposal and that “right now, it’s a no.”

But the reality is they’ve had decades of research – if they ever cared to look. They’ve had eight years in power. They’ve seen three prime ministers. They’ve seen multiple disasters locally. They’ve seen the regional communities, farmers, the agriculture sector – the very people they claim to represent – expressing their concerns about climate change and committing to their own net-zero policies.

They’ve taken Australia to one minute to midnight, intentionally.

And yet they claim they’ve not had enough time, that they won’t be held “hostage” when clearly the Nationals are and have been the hostage taker. They’ve had a good friend in Morrison, who has himself hoped to avoid the issue for the duration of his time in office, but is now under considerable pressure locally and international to make the most minimal of commitments.

Joyce has made a concession this morning, declaring that his party is not going to “mimic bullying or coercing the Prime Minister.”

How kind of him.

Liberals have expressed concern about the billions in taxpayer dollars to be dished out in return for Nationals support, while Joyce tells the party room “it’s not a case of holding anyone to ransom or anything like that.”

Except that is totally the case. For Morrison to take that minimal commitment to Glasgow, he’s going to need to give up something to his deputy. Something to Joyce. And Pitt. And Canavan and friends. Something that future generations will pay for, on top of the already high price we are asking for them from the glacial pace of committing to prevent the worst of climate change.

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the world is noting Australia as an “outlier” on climate, as failing to do its part as a rich nations and land as particularly letting down our Pacific neighbours.

If you don’t believe climate change is real or that Australia can make a difference, what are you doing in parliament?

The post 8 years, 3 prime ministers and still the Nationals stall Australia on climate appeared first on Women's Agenda.

On Tuesday, Joyce claimed Porter had experienced “a bad day at the wicket” and the transparency issue of his use of anonymous funds “had been dealt with”.

Porter resigned from the federal cabinet and his role as Minister for Industry, Science and Technology on Sunday, after it was revealed he had used a “blind trust” funded by an anonymous donor, or donors, to pay part of his legal fees for a defamation suit against the ABC. The now settled case related to an article that revealed an unnamed cabinet minister was facing historical rape allegations. Porter identified himself as the accused minster and has denied the allegations.

“Mr Porter is an incredibly intelligent person. He’s been an incredibly capable minister, both in the Western Australia state parliament and in federal parliament,” Joyce said on Tuesday.

“He’s had a bad day at the wicket. There’s no doubt about that and that issue has been dealt with. He has stepped down from the cabinet. Now, his contract is with the people of Pearce and he’ll be back there honouring that contract.”

Joyce indicated that if Porter used his time on the backbench “effectively”, it could be expected that he would return to cabinet at some point.

“You’ll go over to the corridor of the nearly dead over there, stare at the Comcars coming in and out. You’ll have a bit of time on your hands, but you can use it effectively – and I’m sure he will,” Joyce said.

“If he does it effectively, I ­believe he should be given another chance, at some future time, in a senior role.”

Barnaby Joyce has stepped into the role of Acting Prime Minister this week as Scott Morrison visits the United States.

Before he left the country, Morrison announced that Porter would be resigning from cabinet because he could not disclose the donors to the blind trust used to pay part of his legal fees. Despite not revealing the source of the funds, Porter maintains that he complied with ministerial standards and rules about an MP’s register of interest.

Labor is demanding that Porter either return the money, or disclose the source of the funds.

Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the “Australian people need to know who funded this trust, how much they gave, and what they expected to get in return”.

Dreyfus said Porter’s move to backbench does not resolve the issue for Porter and Morrison.

“It is no more acceptable for a member of parliament to keep a donation secret than it is for a minister to keep a donation secret. The Australian people are entitled to know.” 

The post Porter’s had a ‘bad day at the wicket’, according to Acting PM Barnaby Joyce appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Christensen’s outburst, steeped in misinformation related to COVID-19, including his opinion that masks do not work, that vaccine passports are a form of discrimination and lockdowns are ineffective. Christensen, who has announced he will not recontest his seat at the next election, seemingly has nothing to lose by pushing his highly dangerous agenda in parliament.

“When will the madness end? How many more freedoms will we lose due to fear of a virus, which has a survivability rate of 997 out of 1,000,’’ Christensen said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the comments were a disgrace and were designed to use the national parliament to spread misinformation and “undermine the actions of Australians to defeat Covid”.

He said Christensen’s comments were “madness”.

“Madness is saying – let this disease rip,” Albanese said. “Let people die. Let whole economies be shut down. Let’s stop us being able to return to our way of life. That is what is madness. The madness of conspiracy theorists.”

Albanese successfully moved a motion toward the end of question time, calling on the parliament to reject “statements that masks do not work, that lockdowns do not work”. He also called on members of parliament to refrain from making “ill-informed comments” at a time when COVID remains a serious threat to the health of the public.

In a rare show of bipartisanship, Albanese’s motion was passed through the parliament without objection from the Coalition.

And while the Coalition allowed Albanese’s motion condemning Christensen to pass, prominent Nationals figures have said they support the MP’s “freedom of speech”.

Speaking to ABC Breakfast on Wednesday morning, Deputy Nationals leader David Littleproud said while he doesn’t support the comments Christensen made, he is comfortable with him remaining a member of the Nationals and a government MP.

“We do not support George on this,” he said. “But freedom of speech is an important principle that many have died for, and George is entitled to make that. With that comes responsibility.”

Littleproud said that because Christensen was on the back bench, he had little decision-making influence, and would be “counselled” by deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.

But Barnaby Joyce told ABC radio on Wednesday morning that it was ludicrous to suggest he could stop Christensen spreading misinformation or making similar speeches in the future.

“I’ve had conversations with him…that doesn’t mean he’s a slave of anybody,” Joyce said.

“The likelihood of that is near zero.”

Christensen’s comments on Tuesday follow a speech he made last week in support of anti-lockdown protests, as well as his attendance at an anti-lockdown rally in Mackay two weeks ago.

While Littleproud seems content that Christensen’s influence over the government is minimal, his influence is far from minimal elsewhere. Christensen has 83,000 followers on Facebook, where he frequently spreads misinformation, and he is reportedly launching a “pro-freedom” news website as he looks to retire from politics.

In parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison spoke generally about condemning misinformation, but did not specifically reprimand Christensen for his dangerous rhetoric that undermines his own government’s health response to the pandemic.

With Morrison’s sights set clearly on the next election, his refusal to rebuke Christensen speaks to a wider issue that the rogue Nationals MP is not the only person within the Coalition harbouring dangerous views on COVID-19. Morrison needs every member of his government on side to win the next election, something he’s willing to prioritise over the health of Australians.

The post George Christensen’s spread of misinformation is dangerous & our leaders need to do more to condemn it appeared first on Women's Agenda.

Horrendous images and footage of the events rolled in, with police mobbed, abused and assaulted by some attendees deeming themselves as “freedom fighters”.

In Queensland, a similar albeit lawful protest took place with the usual political suspects capitalising on ugly social impulses.

Controversial Nationals’ MP, George Christensen was in attendance at the rally in Mackay, and voiced support for illegal protests occurring in Sydney by posting footage to social media alongside the caption: “Looks like thousands upon thousands of Sydneysiders are protesting against the removal of freedoms under the guise of the pandemic.”

He also actively promoted rallies across the country, claiming “civil disobedience eventually becomes the only response to laws that restrict freedom. This is what we’ve seen in Melbourne today.”

Despite widespread condemnation of the protests from all sides of politics, including Scott Morrison who labelled Sydney protesters as “selfish”, Christensen’s actions were defended by both the Prime Minister and his Deputy, Barnaby Joyce this morning, who suggested that “free speech” was entitled.

“Let’s be real about this – everybody has the liberty to say what they want,” Joyce told ABC radio.

“What you’re implying there is that any person in the parliament has the capacity to tell George Christensen what to do,” he added.

“I mean, are you proposing that we lock him up? Then you’re no further ahead than I am.”

Former Liberal MP turned independent, Craig Kelly also addressed the Brisbane protest by telephone while a video message from One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts blasted the social impacts of lockdowns.

John Ruddick, a Liberal Democrat candidate, went so far as to film himself at the unlawful Sydney rally, before boasting on social media about the $1,000 fine incurred for his attendance.

These politicians, who purport to be standing up for the interests of all Australians and their liberties, are in fact achieving the very opposite.

Epidemiologists, health professionals and experts have expressed their grave fear that Sydney’s protest in particular may lead to a “super spreader” event. With the city still recording more than 100 new transmissions of COVID a day, the risk of thousands gathering unmasked in this way, can’t be understated.

It’s understandable that Australians (and possibly many of these protesters) feel hopeless right now. With thousands of job losses and reduced incomes during rolling lockdowns, people are reaching breaking point. Perhaps some saw this protest as an opportunity to voice their anguish.

Politicians like Christensen, know this. They sniff it out and they capitalise on it, making Australians more vulnerable in the process.

Protests like this merely make it more difficult for others to get heard on the legitimate hardships they are experiencing.

The post The male politicians who endorsed the ‘super spreader’ protests & Australia’s ugliest impulses appeared first on Women's Agenda.

NSW Police confirmed that a $200 penalty notice was issued to Joyce on Monday morning for failing to wear a mask in a service station in Armidale. A member of the public in his own electorate had reported the breach of the public health order to Crime Stoppers. Police checked the CCTV cameras to confirm the report, before issuing the fine.

#BREAKING: Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has been fined $200 for failing to wear a mask. The ABC understands Mr Joyce was spotted by a member of the public at a petrol station in Armidale, and reported for not wearing a mask when he was inside the store.

— Gavin Coote (@GavinCoote) June 29, 2021

“Officers from New England Police District attended a service station at Armidale after receiving a Crime Stoppers report in relation to a possible breach of Public Health Orders at about 8am yesterday,” a statement from police said.

“Inquiries revealed a 54-year-old man was not wearing a face mask while in store. Police spoked with the man before issuing a $200 PIN.”

NSW Police statement on deputy PM Barnaby Joyce copping a $200 fine for not wearing a face mask inside an Armidale petrol station pic.twitter.com/jDmUMtFHFf

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) June 29, 2021

Speaking to the media, NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys confirmed the situation.

“Police were alerted to that – they took some action,” he said.

“That person was apologetic and cooperative with police and an infringement notice was issued.”

Barnaby Joyce was reinstated as Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister last week, rolling Michael McCormack for the Nationals’ leadership. Joyce resigned from the leadership of the Nationals in 2018 after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against him – he denies the allegations.

The post Barnaby Joyce issued with $200 fine for not wearing face mask appeared first on Women's Agenda.

There has been a mixed reaction to Barnaby Joyce’s return to leader of the federal National Party and deputy prime minister. Even some within his own party have expressed concern at his return to centre stage.

There are multiple reasons why Joyce’s restoration has failed to garner greater enthusiasm.

One concern relates to the optics of a leadership change. These events are rarely well received by the public and often lead to in-fighting and instability. They also tend to further strain public trust in the political class, particularly when the politicians involved have issued full-throated denials that a spill is imminent.

A second reason is linked to Joyce’s populist leadership style and more strident policy rhetoric on coal and climate change. Here the concern is that Joyce’s presence will exacerbate tensions within the party room, and also scramble relations with its coalition partner, the Liberals.

The third reason is the circumstances that occasioned Joyce’s resignation from the National’s leadership in 2018.

Joyce stood down voluntarily owing to a credible, but unresolved, sexual harassment allegation (which Joyce denies), and over serious concerns about the propriety of his conduct with his now partner but then staffer, Vikki Campion.

The male culture of politics

Joyce’s (re)ascension signals that the Nationals are somewhat inured to growing public concerns over the unhealthy gender dynamics in parliament, even when the voices raising these uncomfortable truths are from within the party.

One of the most strikingly apparent and longstanding gender inequities in politics is the under-representation of women in Australian parliaments. Despite Australia’s strong democratic credentials, it remains one of the great laggards on achieving gender parity in parliament.

In recent decades, the problem has been especially pronounced among parties of the mainstream political right. They have consistently rejected the implementation of pre-selection quotas in favour of training programs targeted at aspiring women candidates. Although these programs can be of some help, research shows they are a less effective way of redressing under-representation.

The effects of the reliance on so-called merit-based pre-selection is especially striking in relation to the Nationals. Its record on electing women to Australian parliaments is particularly poor, a situation that academic Marian Sawer – three decades ago – attributed to the greater persistence of “sex-role conservatism” in rural Australia. Sawer proposed that the National Country Party (as the Nationals was known then) reflected this conservatism.

Data compiled by Anna Hough from the Australian Parliamentary Library shows the extent to which the party’s conservatism continues to reveal itself with the under-representation of women in Australian lower houses.

Federally, only 13% of Nationals in the House of Representatives are women. This compares to 22% for the Liberals and 43% for ALP.

A similar pattern is apparent in the states where the Nationals have a legislative presence.

In the NSW lower house, only 16.7% of the party’s contingent are women, which is much lower than for the Liberals (32%) and Labor (45.5%).

In Western Australia, while the Nationals are led by a woman (Mia Davies), she is the sole National woman in the Western Australian parliament.

In Victoria, 33% of the party’s number in the Legislative Assembly are women, and it also selected a female deputy leader (Steph Ryan).

The situation in Queensland (LNP) and the Northern Territory (CLP) is complicated because these parties are affiliated to the National and Liberal parties and not strictly divisions of the Nationals. Nevertheless, both the LNP and CLP are kindred National parties.

In the case of the LNP, only 18% of its members in the Legislative Assembly are women, compared to 40% in Labor.

The situation for the CLP is healthier but is still not a record to be admired. While the CLP’s parliamentary party is led by a woman (Lia Finocchiaro), only 38% of its MPs are female.

As Jennifer Curtin and Katrine Beauregard note, women have been “active as ordinary and executive members of the party”. Notwithstanding this achievement, low levels of women in party rooms, and in lower houses particularly – which are practically and symbolically important as the chamber of government – does seriously limit the diversity of perspectives that are represented in policy and law making.

Why Joyce’s return makes this situation worse

Joyce has not done much to instil confidence that he has learned anything in his years returned to the backbench.

While acknowledging his faults and remarking that he “hopes” he has “come back a better person”, it is not clear what new insights Joyce gained about the events that caused him to resign, especially given he has no appetite to “dwell on the personal”.

His lack of introspection is perhaps not surprising given how he managed the situation in 2018.

At the time, Joyce was quick to declare that none of the “litany of allegations” levelled against him had been “sustained”. He emphasised that he was stepping aside for the “person in the weatherboard and iron”, and not because it was warranted by his conduct.

The Nationals have calculated they will not pay much of an electoral price for their decision to return him as leader. As the federal president of the National Party, Kay Hull, reasoned:

“[s]ome women may be disappointed but […] the only women that will be voting or not voting for Barnaby Joyce will be the women of New England.

Hull may be right, but there are potentially other costs associated with the party’s actions.

As the smaller party in the coalition, the Nationals have not had to defend their record on gender in the same way as their Liberal counterpart. Joyce’s return will make it increasingly difficult for the Nationals to fly under the radar on this issue. At least, let’s hope that it does.

Narelle Miragliotta, Senior Lecturer in Australian Politics, Monash University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The post What is Barnaby Joyce’s ‘women’ problem? And why does it matter? appeared first on Women's Agenda.

The Guardian reports that Senator McKenzie will become the Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education. Her role will also include responsibility for emergency management and drought, previously held by the Nationals’ David Litteproud.

In February 2020, McKenzie was forced to resign from Scott Morrison’s ministry, having breached ministerial standards in light of the “sports rorts” saga.

At the time, Morrison did not force McKenzie to resign for using the $100 million sports grants program for political advantage by favouring marginal seats, but rather for the lesser sin of failing to declare her membership of gun organisation that benefitted from the program.  

That’s despite an audit of the program that revealed McKenzie and her office had rorted the system, using millions of tax payer funded dollars to give grants to sporting clubs in marginal seats ahead of the 2019 federal election.

Ahead of McKenzie’s swearing in as a minister this week, Morrison released a statement boasting about how this new cabinet will have the highest female representation of any Australian government.

“These changes will provide the strongest female representation in an Australian government cabinet on record, building on the previous record also achieved under my government,” Morrison said.

“However, it is not just about the size of the female contingent in my cabinet but the skills and the experience they all bring to help us solve our nation’s challenges.”

What Morrison says about the importance of the “skills and experience” of ministers is very true; having the best of best is critical to solving Australia’s challenges.

It remains unclear how Senator McKenzie meets any criteria that relates to the best “skills and experience”, having now ostensibly suffered no consequences for her breach of ministerial standards in 2020, when she was forced out of cabinet. Her return, with its lack of acknowledgment about why she needed to resign in the first place, is an insult to every hard-working and honest Australian.

Having more women in federal cabinet will not make a difference to women’s lives in this country while our political leadership tolerates such neglect of responsibility. And in this cabinet, it’s not just McKenzie who has faced no long-term consequences.

As it stands, the federal ministry, headed up by Morrison, harbours one man facing allegations of historical rape (who denies these allegations) and another man, now Deputy Prime Minister, who has faced an unresolved claim of sexual harassment (which he also denies). There’s also former defence minister Linda Reynolds, who was forced to apologise after she described Brittany Higgins as a “lying cow”. While she has been removed from the defence portfolio, Reynolds remains in cabinet as Minister for Government Services and the NDIS.

This doesn’t even cover other actions by ministers in the Morrison government that have betrayed the trust of Australians. There was the robodebt debacle that was deemed by a federal judge to be a “massive failure in public administration”, the mismanaged vaccine rollout and lack of national quarantine facilities, and the death of more than 650 older Australians from COVID-19 in residential aged care during the pandemic. Then, there’s the lack of commitment to address climate change and the refusal to commit to a net zero emissions by 2050 target, a step that would put Australia in line with our strongest international allies.

As we wade our way through the uncertainty of 2021, is there any wonder a recent national survey revealed many Australians have a lack of trust in the democratic process? It’s clearer than ever as to why we do not have trust in our politicians to do the right thing, and it’s at the peril of our democracy.

The post Bridget McKenzie’s promotion to ministry is a sign that real consequences mean nothing to this government appeared first on Women's Agenda.