The #March4Justice Movement and the political crisis in response
by Trang Dang
On March 15, #March4Justice protests were held in 42 cities and towns across Australia. At the Canberra march, protestors delivered to Parliament a petition, signed by more than 90,000 people, calling for actions to address gender violence and support gender equality. The marches, while originally organised in response to specific cases of alleged sexual assaults, snowballed into a movement calling for an end to gender violence and for gender equality in Australia.
How a March that Became a Movement
This year, a number of events brought the issue of gender violence and victim support to national attention. In January, Grace Tame was announced as the Australian of the Year for the #letherspeak campaign which advocates for the removal of gag laws preventing sexual assault victims from speaking about their experience. In February, Brittany Higgins spoke publicly about her alleged rape in Parliament House by a colleague. Chanel Contos launched a petition calling for consent to be part of sexual education in schools. On 3rd March, the Australian Attorney-General, Christian Porter, appeared at a press conference in Perth to strenuously deny historical rape allegations.
Each of these cases spurred the #March4Justice protests. One of the organisers of the Canberra protest, Janine Hendry, described the ‘visceral anger’ which lead her to post on her twitter account a call for ‘extremely disgruntled women’ to travel to Canberra and silently protest in front of Parliament House to ‘tell not only this govt (sic.) but the world that we’ve had enough’.
The broad demands of the protestors were distilled down to four actions which were outlined in the petition, addressed to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, and presented to Parliament on the day of the march in Canberra. It included independent investigations into all cases of gendered violence and full implementation of the 55 recommendations in the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Respect@Work report of the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces 2020.
The marches and movement tapped into a common lived experience for women. Journalist Katharine Murphy captured this in her description that every woman has experienced of not being listened to when she should have been heard. Further, Murphy stated, every woman who has been the victim of a sexual assault or has tried to support a woman after a sexual assault, knows of the life before the assault versus the life after the assault.
In the life before, they suspected they might be vulnerable. In the life after, they knew they were vulnerable. These experiences are much more common than many people think.
As the #March4Justice movement evolved, there was a grown gap between the demands for action and the response from the Government. I consider the mains points of tension.
‘Rule of Law’ vs Ministerial Standards
Christian Porter’s media conference on 3rd March to deny historical rape allegations was confronting. The Attorney-General (AG) stated he would not stand down based on these allegations which ‘simply did not happen’ and to do either would contribute to the breakdown of ‘rule of law’. The Attorney General appealed to his colleagues to support to his decision or risk the introduction of a ‘new standard — that anyone in Cabinet resigns because there is allegation against them’.
The Prime Minister subsequently described the Attorney General ‘innocent man under our law’, citing the decision of the New South Wales Police to close the investigation. The Prime Minister also refused calls for an independent inquiry into whether, in light of the allegations, Porter is still fit and proper to continue to serve as the nation’s first law officer.
The Government’s decision not to stand down Porter or hold an independent investigation into the claims against ministerial standards — and to justify the decision with a restricted definition of ‘rule of law’ (see the expanded definition of rule of law from the New South Wales Bar Association and explanation of the three elements of the legal system from the former Commonwealth Solicitor-General) — contributed to the view of a Government not willing to contend with allegations of improper conduct when it concerned a member of Government.
Bullet-Free, Democracy
The organisers of the Canberra #March4Justice action invited all members of federal Parliament to attend the protest. The Prime Minister declined and offered the organisers a meeting with him and the Minister for Women in his office — an offer ultimately rejected.
Matt Golding’s comparison of the Prime Minister’s absenting himself from the #March4Justice protest with John Howard’s appearance at a pro-gun rally in the Victorian town of Sale in 1996 (in protest against the Government’s proposed gun control laws following the Port Arthur massacre) reflects a view of a Prime Minister remaining behind closed doors in response to calls for actions against the poor treatment of women in Parliament, and gender violence and gender discrimination more broadly.
During question time on the day of the #March4Jutice protests, the Prime Minister made the following comment:
“This is a vibrant liberal democracy, Mr Speaker, not far from here, such marches, even now, are being met with bullets, but not here in this country.”
After his comments on the marches, the Prime Minister answered a ‘Dorothy Dixer’ on COVID economic recovery.
The marches and movement highlight citizens expectations — notwithstanding any successful COVID-19 policies and programs — for governments to contribute to citizens and communities’ well-being, beyond the areas of economic recovery and grow.
A Mea Culpa Press Conference that Went Off the Rails
Monday 22nd March was a day of extraordinary revelations at Senate estimates hearings about why the Gaetjens inquiry had been ‘paused’ (the inquiry had been set up by the Prime Minister to look into what his office knew what about the alleged Higgins sexual assault). During question time, the Leader of the Opposition Anthony Albanese asked the Prime Minister why he had misled Parliament by not disclosing this pause. That night, 10news report opened with story of lewd acts by Coalition staffer in Parliament House, including sharing a recording of a staffer masturbating at the desk of female member of Parliament. Four Corners reported on further details of night of the alleged Brittany Higgins rape, political management afterwards and the poor culture in Parliament House.
The Prime Minister fronted a press conference the next morning, describing what has been a ‘very traumatic month’ for him. He stated that recent events have highlighted for him that multiple generations of women have had to deal with ‘this rubbish and this crap’ their entire lives. He described feeling deeply distressed that women believe he has not been listening to their concerns. In fact, he explained, this month he has been listening and speaking to the women in his life. He noted the poor choice of word use to describe the #March4Justice protests.
He asked for the ‘indulgence’ and stated that he wants women to have at least the same opportunities, voice and safety as men. He described, while on the verge of tears, how his wife, two daughters and widowed mother are the ‘centre of his world’ and drive his work. He stated that there is a problem ‘all over this country’, and not something that government alone can change. He called on women to stand by him while he works to make changes happen.
In response to a question from Sky News’ Andrew Clennell on whether he had lost control of his ministry the Prime Minister warned that those who ‘sit in glass houses’ should not ‘start getting into that’. The Prime Minister cited the details of an alleged harassment case within News Corp. This exchange led Patricia Karvelas to describe the Prime Minister’s efforts as a mea culpa that went off script. Laura Tingle responded on the 7:30 Report that night
“Actually, Prime Minister, the women of Australia may not forgive you this indulgence. Those women may be wondering what exactly the Prime Minister has been doing for the past month.”
By 11pm that night, the Prime Minister had issued on his facebook page an apology to News Corporation for his ‘insensitive response’ to Clennell’s question.
The Grassroots Feminist Movement
Discussing the #March4Justice in Canberra a couple of days after the event, Virginia Haussegger and Helen Dalley-Fisher described #March4Justice as a ‘a real moment of feminist organising that was grassroots’ and ask ‘will this turn the tide on gender equality’?
I have a number of observations from my attendance at the Canberra #March4Justice march, and the preceding and subsequent events.
Brittany Higgins made a surprise appearance and in her speech she spoke about dealing with the fallout from her assault in the public eye, and finding out about details of her case through media reports. Part of her call to action mirrored the messages promoted by Grace Tame, that is, for victims and survivors to share and speak about their experience. Higgins stated, there is ‘a generation of women ready, willing and able to support you’.
Since the march, there continues to be revelations about what occurred on the night of her alleged rape, the attempts at crisis management afterwards and the ongoing claims about who said what, when and why. Each of these revelations have contained disturbing unsettling details and continually highlighting Brittany Higgin’s fortitude in deciding to speak publicly about her experience.
#March4Justice drew on a longer campaign for gender equality in Australia. In attendance at the Canberra march were key feminist figures in Australia, including Elizabeth Reid (appointed by Whitlam in 1973 as his top advisor on women’s affairs, the first women in Australia to hold this position) and members of the Canberra Women’s Liberation Group.
What was evident for me at the Canberra marches was the diverse age group of those in attendance, which is not always a given in protest actions. The multi-generational support for the campaign for gender equality was demonstrated in placards which said, ‘I’m 12, and I’m Already Sick of this Shit’.
There was a recognition that in terms of gender violence and gender discrimination, there are additional disadvantages facing First Nations people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disabilities, the LGBTQI community and other marginalised groups.
The strongest advocates for the #March4Justice protests and the movement, and also among its most high-profile participants, were female journalists.
The speakers shared their pain, hurt and anger and there was also a common call to action.
What’s Next?
The events of the last couple weeks have opened up conversations around sexual assaults and gender violence in Australia in a way that I haven’t seen before, in the public and private spheres.
Women’s response to the action from our elected leaders is determined by our own experience of assault or of supporting another woman through that experience — as explained by Katharine Murphy, something more common than most people think. Rather than being a recent revelation, the calls for actions to address gender violence and discrimination is driven by a ‘visceral anger’ from a lifetime of ‘lived experience’.
Helen Dalley-Fisher, head of the Equality Rights Alliance reflected on the ‘massive amount of work done by young women’ in sharing their stories online and in social media forums and in the process, creating a language now that we didn’t have before which allows us to talk about it and it’s one of the things that make me think we won’t be able to put back in the box.
The Prime Minister’s reflection at his press conference on Tuesday 23rd March that his desire for change are motivated by the women ‘at the centre of my life’ also explains what motivated the girls and women who participated in #March4Justice and have remained involved in the broader movement.
The Prime Minister has an extraordinary set of resources available to him bring about changes. As well as actions in response to the alleged sexual assaults in relation to Brittany Higgins and the Attorney General, those involved in the march and the movement are demanding actions — to paraphrase the Prime Minister — for women to have the same opportunities, voice and safety as men.
The Prime Minister’s press conference on Tuesday 23rd March will act as a benchmark for assessing whether he has listened to the demands from women for action against the poor treatment of women in Parliament House, and gender violence and gender inequality in the community more broadly — and whether the government acted in good faith in response to these demands.
Those involved in the movement will not be satisfied with the Government’s self-assessment of its performance alone.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TRANG DANG
Trang Dang is an MPhil Candidate in the School of Government and International Relations at Griffith University.
She is completing her dissertation on political actions taken in two remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory in response to federal land reform policies implemented between 2006 to 2013.
Trang has extensive experience working in policy development and program delivery. Over 11 years, Trang has worked for Commonwealth and Northern Territory and Victorian governments, in Indigenous affairs, regional development and economic development policy areas.
