Minister withdraws threat to out 'rumours' on female Shorten staff


READ MORE

Cabinet minister Michaelia Cash has been forced to retract comments in which she threatened to make public “rumours” about female staff at Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s office.


Senator Cash made the remark as Labor senator Doug Cameron pressed the minister about her new chief-of-staff during a Senate estimates hearing on Wednesday.


“If you want to start discussing staff matters be very, very careful because I’m happy to sit here and name every young woman in Mr Shorten’s office over which rumours in this place abound,” Senator Cash responded at the Senate hearing on Wednesday.


“If you want to go down that path today, I will do it.”


Senator Cash said the line of questioning was a “dangerous path to go down” for Senator Cameron.


“Do you want to start naming them?” she said.


“For Mr Shorten to come out and deny any of the rumours that have been circulating in this building now for many, many years.”


Malcolm Turnbull says the AWU and Bill Shorten have questions to answer after AFP raids on the union's officers in Sydney and Melbourne.

Senator Cash, a former minister for women, has been under pressure throughout the estimates hearings over the Australian Worker’s Union raid late last year.


A media advisor from Senator Cash’s office resigned last year after it was revealed media were tipped off about the raid in advance, arriving before police.


AFP officers executed the warrants in Sydney and Melbourne after the Registered Organisations Commission flagged fears documents were being tampered with or destroyed.


Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong criticised Senator Cash’s female staffer remarks, pointing out Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had in recent weeks stressed the importance of making parliament a better workplace for women.


“I think it’s disgraceful and sexist and it is impugning on the character of staff,” Senator Wong said.


Senator Cash said she was simply stating rumours often circulated around Parliament, but that did not make them true.


“If anyone has been offended by my remarks, I withdraw,” she added.


Deputy Labor Leader Tanya Plibersek said Senator Cash should apologise for using a Senate hearing “to attack young women working in politics”.


“Her comments undermine the professionalism of the many competent, intelligent, hardworking young women who work on all sides of politics. The comments are disgraceful + sexist – she should apologise,” she tweeted.


Article source: http://watoday.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/fourth-time-a-charm-as-dale-finucane-tastes-premiership-glory-with-melbourne-storm-20171001-gysgrl.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harry Styles Unfollows His Keyboardist, Who Defended A Man Charged With Rape, & Fans Cheer

READ MORE The keyboardist on Harry Styles’ final tour, Clare Uchima, is underneath glow for display support for a charged assailant — and fans were over vehement to see that Harry unfollowed her on amicable media. Harry Styles fans are entertaining him on for unfollowing  Clare Uchima , a lady who played keyboard on his final tour , on amicable media. Harry’s logic for attack a ‘unfollow’ symbol on Clare was not revealed, nonetheless fans are assured it’s given of her tie to  Oritse Williams , a member of former UK RB organisation JLS , who was charged with rape in September. Oritse and another male were charged with raping a fan in a hotel room after a 2016 performance, and Clare publicly showed her support for Oritse, who she considers a friend. Oritse denied a allegations when a assign was made. “Women have been operative so tough for generations to get where we can be giveaway and equal individuals,” Clare wrote on Instagram after Oritse’s rape charge. “#MeToo was such a breakthro
Read more

One Nation's Malcolm Roberts wants migration rate more than halved

Image
READ MORE Australia’s yearly intake of skilled migrants and their families should be radically cut to just 70,000, according to One Nation’s top Senate candidate in Queensland. The current cap has been set at 190,000 since 2011, but the actual intake fell to its lowest level in a decade under the Coalition government  during the past financial year, with just 163,000 permanent arrivals. Mr Roberts will lead the One Nation ticket in the Senate in the party’s traditional stronghold state of Queensland at the next federal election, which is due to take place by May. He was ejected from parliament earlier in the year when the High Court found he held a dual citizenship, in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution. Party leader Pauline Hanson has a six-year term and her seat will not be in contested. One Nation is known for its anti-immigration policies, but will need to compete with rivals like Katter’s Australia Party, whose members have called for a public vote on a potential return to
Read more

World Cup Central: Dhoni, Akhtar, Botham in All Blacks all-time cricket XV

READ MORE Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print World Cup fever has crossed platforms. There was Harry Kane sneaking into India’s training sessions to meet Virat Kohli. And now there’s the All Blacks picking a XV made up of past and present cricketers. With the @cricketworldcup underway in England, we’ve taken a look at all the best players from past and present to select the ultimate Cricket XV! SQUAD NOTES https://t.co/B3rnj5OBuJ #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/KuUtPU77PT — All Blacks (@AllBlacks) June 2, 2019 And they’ve got some pretty cool reasons for picking some pretty cool players. Curtly Ambrose : If anyone wants to argue with this selection then take it up with Sir Curtly himself. We dare you. MS Dhoni : The Richie McCaw of Cricket. Enough said. Dwayne Leverock : Famous for his one-handed catch at the 2003 World Cup, the 130kg Bermudian would surely make just as big a splash on the rugby field. Jofra Archer runs in to bowl  Getty Images June 1 Archer the fastes
Read more