The crisis engulfing Australia’s politics has continued to grow following the emergence of videos showing staff members performing sex acts in parliament, leading to one senior aide being fired.
One video showed the aide performing a sex act on a female MP’s desk. Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the videos as “disgraceful”. It comes after a former staff member revealed how she feared losing her job following an alleged sexual assault. Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped by senior colleague in an office in March 2019, but says she felt pressured not to report the incident to police.It sparked a wave of allegations, and last week, thousands took part in marches to protest against the sexual abuse and harassment of women in Australia.
The videos were leaked to Australian media by a former government staff member, who said he had become “immune” to the pictures because of the sheer volume he received. As well as the videos – filmed two years ago – he said people had used the prayer room to have sex and even brought sex workers into parliament. The whistleblower described a “culture of men thinking that they can do whatever they want”, describing some of his colleagues as “morally… bankrupt”.(BBC)…[+]