Ghosts of the past come back to haunt PM

Morrison now has damaged ministers in his cabinet. The questions about them are questions of character. The ABC’s Four Corners program on Monday night aired opinions and allegations that cannot be unsaid.

Porter denies breaching the code of conduct that bans ministers from having sex with their staff and rejects the ABC’s depiction of events. But there are several witnesses to his time at the Public bar in Canberra with a young woman from another office in Parliament House. And the Four Corners claims about his university years, with lawyer Kathleen Foley describing him as sexist and misogynist, will leave a permanent mark.

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Porter is one of the government’s most capable ministers. He carries a bigger load than others – as Attorney-General, Industrial Relations Minister and the government leader in the House of Representatives – and is always across his brief.

But voters do not just assess what you do as minister – rightly or wrongly, they judge who you are. Porter has been named for years as a potential prime minister. Right now, that dream looks dead.

Tudge expressed regret about his behaviour soon after Four Corners revealed his affair with his former media adviser, Rachelle Miller. His supporters say the events are several years old – like Morrison, they want to leave the past behind him.

If only there was a statute of limitations on personal hurt.

Miller has lodged two complaints with the Department of Finance. In the first, she claims Tudge bullied and intimidated her while she worked for him – in fact, while she was also in a relationship with him. Tudge says he anticipates an inquiry on this.

The second complaint is against another cabinet minister, Michaelia Cash, over claims of a “fake redundancy” to force Miller out of her office in 2018, in part because of the shadow of the affair with Tudge. Cash strongly rejects this claim.

There is an old pattern here. Miller says the affair was consensual and she makes no claim of sexual harassment. But she believes she was “blacklisted” by the government “star chamber” that decides who gets jobs. As the woman in the relationship, and the one without power, she was left in the dust.

Miller was a good press secretary, better than most. Why did she wait until this month to lodge her complaints? The Four Corners team, led by journalist Louise Milligan, clearly uncovered things that led people to think again about events from 2017 and 2018. So I asked Miller about her motivation.

“I spoke out to stand up for myself and reclaim my confidence, so I could proudly say that I’d done something to make the future a little less difficult for my daughters,” she said.

If change comes, it will not come fast. The Department of Finance could set up two investigations, and might even make findings about what happened, but it has no power to take action. Ministerial advisers are hired under laws that give politicians sweeping powers to hire and fire.

These powers are easy to abuse but hard to change. They give special protection to ministers whether they are good or bad – even if they carry on like undergraduates for decades after leaving student politics.

This problem has never been confined to one side of politics – Labor ministers have been subject to the same rumours as Tudge and Porter, even if the women involved chose not to go public. Is Labor really any better? It only just agreed on a code to match the one Morrison applies to ministers.

So the culture of the Parliament is in question.

Morrison will have to adjust his response as the formal complaints take their course. It is not his job to defend the personal behaviour of his ministers. It is their job to defend themselves. Nothing changes if they are shielded from inquiry. The events aired this week did not happen on Morrison’s watch, and ministers have got the message that he will not tolerate the same conduct now.

Given the authority Morrison wields after last year’s election, he can tough it out if a minister falls. There are good candidates below them to take their place.

This week has highlighted, again, the flaws in a political culture that is a long way from equality between men and women. The power imbalance is built into the system.

Helen Haines, the independent MP for the regional Victorian seat of Indi, has a useful solution: a Commonwealth Parliamentary Standards Commissioner to rule on complaints about behaviour. That might keep everyone focused on their day jobs.

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Parliament House is a brutal building. It is a political machine that chews people up and spits them out. One moment it can offer an elevator to the top; an instant later it opens the door to a dark stairwell that leads down to the exit.

It is a bruising life for many. But it was a shattering experience for Rachelle Miller. With her prospects blocked, she felt driven out of a career she loved. Others prospered while she was left behind. Is it any wonder she wants to be heard?

The gleaming flagpole of Parliament House may catch your eye, but the raw concrete below can chill your blood.