Archival tape -- Ruby Jones:

“Testing, testing, that looks pretty good. Might just hold it like this…

So I’ve just left the office and I’m walking to the women’s March for Justice rally. They’re being held all around the country today at midday. I’m really curious to see how many people are at this rally. I think the Canberra one will be particularly big, but I’m expecting a lot of people to be here in Melbourne as well. It does feel like there is a lot of momentum. It feels like there’s a lot of anger as well. I’m just walking through the city to Treasury Gardens and yeah, I’ll see what it’s like when I get there.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #1:

“I’m here for my grandchildren. I don’t want them to go through what we went through. And it's… I’m just fed up.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #2:

“Women have been doing this for generations and nothing has changed. This is my daughter, we’ve been doing this since she was six years old. So for 15 years. If not now, when?”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #3:

“I’ve been doing this for a long time as well, since the 80s. There’s a sense of exhaustion and just… that’s why I’ve just got one word: enough. Because we have been here so many times before and it is very emotional…”

RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Speaker #1:

“Guess what? We’re more than 5,000 people!”

RUBY:

Thousands of Australians marched in cities and towns across the country yesterday.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #4:

“It’s difficult for me to walk but I really wanted to be here.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #5:

“I feel overwhelmed.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #6:

“This is about letting them know that it won’t go away. We won’t let it go away.”

RUBY:

The protests were sparked by allegations of sexual harassment and assault in federal parliament.

Archival tape --Unnamed Protester #7:

“I think all women are so triggered by this and by the fact that the government continually turns its back on us.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #8:

“It’s happened so many times we have to keep going… and then like, we’re still doing this in 2021.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #9:

“We’re here to help burst the Canberra bubble.”

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester #10:

“We have support from each other now. Once women collectivize, we’re up and running. Wild forces.”

RUBY:

The question now is whether our political leaders will listen to the voices of those demanding change.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Protester 11:

“I think we’re all tired. We’re all sick of it. And it needs to have systemic change from now on. I think we’re all extremely angry and it just has to happen.”

RUBY:

Today, chief political correspondent for The Saturday Paper Karen Middleton on the March for Justice, and whether the government is taking notice.

Karen, can you start off by telling me about how the March for Justice first came about?

KAREN:

Well, I think really it goes back to the allegation of rape that we heard from former government staffer Brittany Higgins about a month ago. We remember that she came forward and alleged that a colleague had raped her in the minister's office late one Friday night and that she had felt that she was pressured to choose between her job and going to the police. And in the end, she chose her job and didn't report the rape.

But two years later, she's resigned from her job and she has gone to police and she's spoken publicly about that, and I think that galvanised a lot of emotion, particularly in the building here at Parliament House and around Canberra. But I think more widely than that as well.

And then just as people were starting to talk about that, a second allegation emerged around the Attorney-General, Christian Porter. He completely denies the allegation. And both of those things together have coalesced, and there's been a public sentiment emerged that a feeling that there is still not enough progress to prevent or minimise at least sexual harassment, bullying, intimidation of women and just unequal treatment.

RUBY:

And so once it became clear that there were going to be large numbers of women marching, what was the government's response to that?

KAREN:

Well, it's very interesting. I mean, this issue emerged out of nowhere really a month ago. And, you know, we have a prime minister, Scott Morrison, who's very used to setting the political agenda. He likes to be able to dictate which issues are in the public domain for debate. And I think this issue really did blindside him and the government. And it's certainly taken a lot of the political oxygen of the last month. It's made it very hard for the government to do anything else, or say anything else about current issues.

And I think Scott Morrison tried to acknowledge the march.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Now, I'd be happy to meet with a delegation, um, from the group that is coming to Canberra. I’ll meet them as I do with many groups. I’ll meet them privately in my office. And I'll listen carefully to what they're coming to say, of course they are.”

KAREN:

And he did reach out to the leaders of the march and say that he would be happy to meet a very small delegation in his office

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Well I, I haven’t had a habit of going to any marches when they’ve come to Canberra. Um, because as prime Minister when you’re in Canberra it’s a very busy day.”

KAREN:

Because he had said that he wouldn't come down and speak to the gathering, but they declined that. They said that a number of women had tried to get to see him about their allegations, some of whom had been Liberal Party staffers or government staffers, and that they felt that they hadn't had enough response from his office so that it wasn't appropriate for him to then want to have a closed doors meeting with a small group today. They wanted this issue to be out in the open and that they felt he should come out to them, so there was a bit of a standoff on that front.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Speaker #2:

“And the women of Australia want some action. We're drawing a line in the sand right here, right now. You’ll give me that assurance?”

KAREN:

The organiser, Janine Hendry actually bailed up the deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, in the corridor of parliament this morning and made it very clear that the women of Australia are sick of reports and promises and that they want some action.

Archival tape -- Michael McCormack:

“I’ve always made sure that any workplace I've uh, I’ve been in and certainly my home, is a very safe and secure place for any woman who happens to be in that particular environment.”

KAREN:

And she had some trouble getting firm commitments out of him, but he wanted to sound like he was being supportive.

Archival tape -- Janine Hendry:

“We will thank you when we get these changes.”

Archival tape -- Michael McCormack:

“Talk about respect. Very good.”

RUBY:

Hmm. And the march itself, you're in Canberra and you went, what was it like?

KAREN:

It was big. There were many thousands of people there.

Archival tape -- Madu (Speaker at Protest):

“Good morning. Beautiful humans. My name is Madu and I stand before you today as a disabled woman. I stand before you today as a young, disabled woman, as a woman of colour, as a survivor, and as a human being who is angry.”

KAREN:

All kinds of people with all kinds of banners, some of them quite derogatory, some of them very witty, some of them very sad, but a lot of people with a high level of emotion and a lot of concern that things don't seem to improve.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Speaker #3:

“We are all here today not because we want to be here, but because we have to be here. We fundamentally recognise the system is broken. The glass ceiling is still in place and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institutions.”

KAREN:

There were a lot of speakers, but I think the one that got the most attention and the most applause and perhaps surprised the most people was Brittany Higgins.

Archival tape -- Brittany Higgins:

“We are here because it's unfathomable, that we are still having to fight the same stale, tired fight.”

KAREN:

The young woman who made the original allegation that really started this national conversation. She decided that she would come and address the rally herself. She gave a long speech.

Archival tape -- Brittany Higgins:

“That I don’t believe what happened was right. That I don’t believe a brochure is adequate support. I don’t believe people should be isolated, intimated and ignored after traumatic incidents inside the workplace. I came forward with my story to hopefully protect other women.”

KAREN:

And she spoke about the pain not of the original alleged incident, which, of course, though, was traumatic, but of the handling of it afterwards. That's what she focused on, in terms of the way that people had treated her, the people she said she’d looked up to in politics, other colleagues, friends, people she referred to as family in a political sense, and her employers.

And she felt that she was really let down by those people. And she's come away from her time in politics, as an adviser, feeling disillusioned with that. She was offering words of encouragement to other women. And I think many women and men were pleased to see her and hear what she had to say.

Archival tape -- Brittany Higgins:

“Together, we can bring about real meaningful reform to the workplace culture inside Parliament House and hopefully every workplace, to ensure the next generation of women can benefit from a safer and more equitable Australia.”

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Karen, let’s talk about the political reaction to the March for Justice. The Prime Minister didn’t attend the rally, but what did he say afterwards?

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Today here and in many cities across our country, women, and men, are gathering together in rallies, both large and small, to call for change and to act against violence directed towards women.”

KAREN:

The Prime Minister got up in parliament at question time afterwards and made a statement acknowledging the marchers:

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“One in four women, Mr. Speaker, have experienced intimate partner violence since the age of 15. One woman dies every nine days, Mr. Speaker, at the hand of a current and former partner.”

KAREN:

And also giving statistics about sexual violence and assuring, was seeking to assure people that the government was aware of the issue and was acting. I guess that was his way of trying to further acknowledge the pain and suffering of many women and the message that was being sent without having actually gone down and spoken to them.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“This is a vibrant liberal democracy, Mr Speaker.”

KAREN:

One of the things he said in Parliament that has got a bit of attention since is the great Australian right to protest.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Not far from here. Such marches, even now, are being met with bullets, but not here in this country, Mr Speaker, not here in this country. This is a triumph of democracy…”

KAREN:

But he drew analogies with other countries, which presumably was Myanmar, where he said that in other countries, when people take to the streets, they get shot. That didn't happen here. There's been a bit of a mixed response to that. Some people are suggesting that that really isn't a comparison that we even want to contemplate in a democracy like this.

RUBY:

Mm. And Karen as women across Australia were preparing to march this morning, we heard the news that the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, would be suing the ABC for defamation. That's over its reporting of the allegations against him. Can you tell me about that?

KAREN:

Yes. So he's suing both the ABC and reporter Louise Milligan. Louise broadcast on Four Corners last year, a piece called ‘Inside the Canberra Bubble’, which mentioned Christian Porter's history, allegedly with women and some of his alleged behaviour as a young person when he was at university.

And then she was the first journalist to report the allegations that had been levelled against him, specifically from the now deceased woman who we know now is Kate dating back to 1988.

Louise Milligan reported a couple of weeks ago that a letter had been sent to a number of politicians, including the prime minister, from friends of Kate, outlining her allegation and the fact that she had gone to New South Wales police in the last year or two to make these allegations dating back 30 years. And Christian Porter revealed himself a few days later to be the person in question and gave an emotional news conference denying the allegations. And he is now taking the legal action against both the journalist and the broadcaster over defamation.

RUBY:

And so what does this mean Karen, in the context of the calls for an inquiry, and also journalists ability to continue to report on the allegations?

KAREN:

Well, it's an interesting question. It's a bit unclear. I would have thought it's a risky strategy simply because if the broadcaster and the journalist are seeking to argue truth as a defence, then they will, I guess, seek to call witnesses who will give evidence. Now, Mr Porter has said that he didn't do it and perhaps he's trying to send a message with this action to reinforce that. I'm sure he is. So there's, you'd have to say, a risk that there is more canvassing of these allegations and in the public domain. And that might be difficult for him. Whether it effectively casts a blanket over further reporting is not very clear. He's certainly hired some high powered lawyers led by Bret Walker SC, who's an extremely eminent; one of Australia's most eminent legal brains. And that suggests he's not mucking around with the legal action.

But whether it stops people reporting isn't clear whether he would argue that it means that you can't have an independent enquiry also isn't clear, but it certainly hasn't stopped the calls for an independent enquiry. Those who are seeking to have some kind of enquiry set up to examine whether or not he's a fit and proper person to stay as Attorney-General, which is what the thrust of those calls is at the moment, seem to still be making them, regardless of this defamation action.

RUBY:

Mm and the marches, Karen, they're obviously about much more than one particular case. They go to this this overarching anger about sexual harassment and misogyny that Australian women have been enduring for a very long time. So to that end, can a march be effective in forcing change do you think? Do you think that the people who are in power are actually listening?

KAREN:

It was quite a strange atmosphere in Parliament House in the lead up to the march, because there were a lot of women walking around wearing black, a lot of men looking a little bit uncomfortable. And it was sort of unspoken messages, I suppose, between the women wearing black, a sense of solidarity ahead of that march and quite an atmosphere that I haven't really felt in the building before.

I think the government is nervous. This issue has captured a lot of attention. It's overshadowed other issues the government would have rather been talking about. We saw a news poll come out this week that suggests it's done the government some damage. It looks to have damaged both the primary and the two party vote for the government and put it behind Labour for the first time in a very long time and also damage the prime minister's approval rating. Now, whether those are long term moves or whether they're temporary, it's not clear, but it's a problem, potentially a political problem for the government.

So I do think they are listening and it's the numbers of people who are so angry but will have caught their attention most. It says that this is an issue that affects people enough for them to take to the streets. And I think political parties will all be paying attention to that.

Archival tape -- Unnamed Speaker #1:

“And we say to the men inside this place who are drunk on power, and those around the country who wield their power more privately. Don't think you have or you will get away with it.”

RUBY:

Karen, thank you for your time today.

KAREN:

Thanks, Ruby.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today…

Papua New Guinea’s government has announced more than 2,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the country, including 97 in the past day alone.

The government is preparing to roll out a nationwide isolation strategy on Wednesday to try and contain the virus, although there are serious fears the outbreak may get significantly worse.

And no new COVID-19 cases have been detected in NSW after a Sydney quarantine worker tested positive after visiting several locations across the city.

I’m Ruby Jones, this is 7am, see ya tomorrow.