Senator defends Leyonhjelm in the midst of sexism

Hume agrees that Leyonhjelm has taken things too far. "David Leyonhjelm is the most harmless individual," she says. "I do not think that he has shown good judgment on this one, you should not talk about the personal lives of others, no matter whether you are a man or a woman, Sarah was stupid to put everything in Hansard.

Other women in the Senate are equally insensitive to the events of the week. Jacinta Collins, a long-time Labor Senator, says she is "less likely to easily offend these things." Yet she herself has been a victim of badism that has been rooted in Australian politics and other workplaces for decades.

"When I took leave to have my 22 years old now, they were trying to insist on being on sick leave," says Collins. "I suggested that there had been nothing about the illness badociated with childbirth. "

Cheryl Kernot, former Democratic leader who had an affair with former Foreign Minister Gareth Evans and later a former parliamentarian who knows more about badual innuendo and gossip than the late Don Randall alluded to this relationship in a speech to Parliament in 1998, in which he sadly described Kernot as having "the morality of a cat in heat. "He apologized later, something that Leyonhjelm still has to do to Hanson-Young

That irritates Kernot who, 20 years later, remembers these scandals more than his contributions to the such as parental leave

badist insults, so you get a little defined by them, "she told Fairfax Media. "We will always remember Sarah Hanson-Young as the woman who used" shame ", and we could forget everything she's done, and it seems to happen to women more than men. "

Kernot says that she's not sure if things are better now than they were in the 1990s." All we know, is that it's a good thing. is it still happening. "

Many MPs who spoke to Fairfax Media for this story said that they thought the situation was worse in the Senate, where representatives are not directly elected. "People think that there are no standards of conduct, but there are," says Terri Butler, Deputy Minister of Equality for Equality. She says Leyonhjelm's remarks are "not the kind of thing I think someone in the House would say."

Butler had uncomfortable comments about gender – all women have, she says . But she is happy to be in a room where members are generally more moderate.

"The House reflects the views of the majority, the Senate reflects minority opinions," she said. "If there is a small minority of Australians who are jerky, then there will be a small minority of senators who are jerky."

Hanson-Young said The Saturday Paper that she believes the bad smears that she has put up with for so long "have gotten worse" in the last 18 months. Liberal MP and former Minister Sussan Ley also told the newspaper that she had been "the target of ugly gossip", but that she was not just targeting women and that she was being made to political ends, not personal ones.

Leyonjelm says his shtick Hume is all fun and games, just like his "joke" with Liberal Senator Anne Ruston. "Anne and I pretend to have an affair – it's just a long-time joke," he says.

Leyonhjelm says that he talks with lawyers and insists that they did not advise him to say sorry. He says he's ready to go to court if necessary

A defamation lawsuit would only prolong the non-edifying posting that has made headlines since last Thursday and, in the eyes of some MPs, has disregarded more widely Australian policy

. "I firmly believe that if we can not eradicate this kind of behavior in the Australian Parliament, then what hope do we have to make sure that women do not endure such behavior in their workplace?" asks Louise Pratt, a Labor Senator from Western Australia

"Sometimes, we may be shocked by what is said in Parliament and be offended, and we should not, like women, need to have a good time. a witty response.