Scott Morrison either ignorant of issues or making calculated moves, Australian of the Year says.
Last modified on Wed 31 Mar 2021 18.46 AEDT
The Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, has criticised Scott Morrison for elevating Amanda Stoker as the new assistant minister for women, declaring that the Queensland senator had supported a “fake rape crisis tour” that inflicted great suffering on survivors.
Tame said Morrison had exhibited either very poor judgment, or cultural calculation, when he elevated the Liberal National party conservative who had conducted public advocacy “aimed at falsifying all counts of sexual abuse on campuses across the nation”.
“Needless to say that came at great expense to the student survivors who were already traumatised,” Tame told an event on Tuesday night.
Tame also turned her sights on Morrison in social media posts after the event at Griffith University. She said when she met the prime minister at morning tea on 25 January, “I spoke directly of the need for a permanent taskforce to tackle issues pertaining to sexual abuse.
“He dismissively insisted that such infrastructure already existed and functioned well.
“Two months later, in an attempt to repair his political standing following explosive allegations of sexual assault, discrimination and misconduct in parliament, he has rearranged his cabinet and created a taskforce on women’s equality, safety, economic security, health and wellbeing.”
Tame said it was possible to respond to a pandemic with funding “but we can’t fix morals with money and masking [and] we can’t boost humanity with stunts and stimulus packages.
“Now that our collective focus has extended beyond economic disruption to issues of morality, we are seeing leaders for who they really are.”
During the event, Tame criticised Stoker for an association with the men’s rights activist Bettina Arndt. She said Arndt had given “a platform to the paedophile who abused me”.
After Arndt was given an Australia Day award for services to gender equity, Stoker backed the sex therapist when she faced an avalanche of criticism.
Tame expressed incredulity that Stoker had been given a women’s ministry in this week’s reshuffle. “That is a woman who has been put into a position of great power – she has been given this new portfolio.”
Tame said on social media that Morrison appointing Stoker to the position demonstrated he either was “ignorant of the cultural issues at hand, or he understands them completely, and is making calculated moves to perpetrate them.
“If the latter is true, then what we are seeing is further abuse of power, masterfully disguised as progress – the very same psychological manipulation at the heart of these recently exposed evils.”
In response to Tame’s comments, Stoker said in a statement: “I’ve spent my career as a prosecutor and barrister working for justice for women and children who are victims of sexual crimes and unconscionable exploitation.
“As a barrister, I provided countless hours of pro bono support to women dealing with sexual harassment.”
Stoker said she would “endeavour to make contact” with Tame in an effort to resolve their differences. “Ms Tame’s comments are passionate but not informed and they do not correspond with my longer history of work in this area, of which Ms Tame must be unaware.
“I hope that she and I can work together to advance our many shared goals.”
The prime minister told reporters in Adelaide he respected Tame and congratulated her “on her strong advocacy on the issues”. But he said he didn’t agree with her negative assessment of Stoker.
Morrison embarked in the reshuffle in an attempt to circumvent the political crisis engulfing the Coalition over its treatment of women. The prime minister unveiled a new frontbench aimed at elevating the female “perspective”.
He established a new taskforce for women, while restoring the number of women in cabinet to seven out of 23. The taskforce will deal with women’s equality, safety and economic wellbeing, and will be chaired by Morrison and the minister for women, Marise Payne. It will include all of the government’s female ministers.
The latest Guardian Essential poll shows that Morrison’s standing with women has slumped by 16 points since the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins generated the federal parliament’s #MeToo moment by alleging she had been raped by a colleague in March 2019.
But while unveiling the reshuffle in an attempt to reset the government’s political fortunes, Morrison has been battling criticism over the rogue MP Andrew Laming, who has been forced to undertake empathy training after complaints he abused his constituents online and taking an inappropriate photo of a woman. Laming denies there was anything untoward in taking the photograph.
Queensland police have confirmed that a formal complaint has been lodged by a 29-year-old woman regarding the allegedly inappropriate photograph.
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