Australians Believe The Government Is More Concerned With Protecting Itself Than Women

A new poll has savaged the Australian government, with the results showing a majority believe Canberra is more concerned with protecting itself than women.

The survey was conducted in the wake of two key sexual assault allegations that have rocked Australia's politicians.

Brittany Higgins recently came forward with her harrowing account of a Liberal staffer allegedly having sex with her while she was asleep inside a Minister's office in 2019.

Attorney General Christian Porter yesterday (March 3) outed himself as the Minister at the centre of a separate rape allegation that stretched all the way back to 1988.

All eyes have been on Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the way he has handled those two cases, as well as others that have have also cropped up, and Australians haven't viewed it in a good light.

PA

The latest Essential poll showed two thirds of people agreed with the following statement: "The government has been more interested in protecting itself than the interests of those who have been assaulted."

That two thirds majority was revealed to have 68 per cent of women and 62 per cent of men agreeing.

Roughly 60 per cent of respondents agreed that 'politics has a particular problem with harassment and assault', while 57 per cent of people reckon attitudes within workplaces change when women are equally represented in leadership positions.

One of the most damning statistics from the Essential poll was that just one in three people have trust in political offices to make sure the workplace is safe for women.

By comparison, respondents were asked if there were other industries or sectors that they had trust in providing a safe workplace.

There was 50 per cent trust in the public service, 48 per cent in private companies, 40 per cent in sporting clubs and 36 per cent in the entertainment industry.

The poll will no doubt rock Canberra even more as it deals with much more public scrutiny over incidents.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has sought a review into workplace culture in Canberra and will be trying to ensure whatever Ms Higgins claimed to have happened will never occur again.

Only one in three people have trust in political offices to ensure the workplace is safe for women.

Topics: Australia

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie