The Attorney General must stand down and there must be an independent inquiry into the rape allegations, otherwise there will be a chilling effect on survivors speaking out, said the Greens today following the revelation of the identity of the cabinet minister.

“Today’s press conference by Christian Porter denying the rape allegations will have been extremely distressing to sexual assault survivors everywhere,” said Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women.

 
“Peter Dutton has finally confirmed when he was told about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations and outed himself as a rape apologist in the process.  Mr Dutton is now the fifth government member who knew about the allegation, but apparently didn’t bother to pick up the phone to the PM", said Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on women.
 

Response to PM’s letter
 
"The Greens welcome the apparent acknowledgement by the PM that the review of the complaints and support process should be conducted not by his Deputy Secretary but independently of government", said Senator Larissa Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson for Women.
 
"Likewise, the Prime Minister should now make the culture review independent, not by a Liberal MP, and the Greens still assert that the Sex Discrimination Commissioner is best placed to do such a review.
 

Greens Senator Larissa Waters moved to bring on her Parliamentary Standards Bill this morning to address Parliament's appalling ineffectual complaints process for staff suffering workplace bullying and harassment.
 
The move follows the Morrison Government’s refusal to even acknowledge there is a problem, following Monday’s Four Corners investigation into sexual harassment within the Liberal Party.
 
Senator Waters, Greens Leader in the Senate and Spokesperson on Women, said:
 
"This is Parliament's Me Too moment.
 

The Greens condemn the Morrison Government for failing to include a gender lens in the Budget, instead leaving it to a non-profit women's organisation to do their homework for them. 

"Women are once again mopping up after the Morrison Government by applying a gender lens to the Budget, something which should have been done by government itself," said Greens Leader in the Senate and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters.

This year’s Budget has failed women by failing to address the key drivers of women’s economic insecurity, tackle the domestic violence crisis, or combat gender inequality, Greens Co-Deputy Leader and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters said.
 
“The 2020 Budget is bad for women. It has no new money for childcare, housing or frontline domestic violence services, the tax cuts are worth twice as much for men as women, and the women’s economic security statement is a mere $18 per Australian woman.
 

The Greens have welcomed the updated Economic Security for Women’s White Paper, and called on the government raise the minimum wage to address women’s financial inequality.

Greens Senate Leader and spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters, said:

“It’s 2020: women want fair pay, not granite bench tops.

“Raising the minimum wage will help those working some of the lowest paid professions, such as health care, childcare, and aged care.

The Greens have criticised the Morrison Government's plans for a stacked inquiry into domestic and family violence, saying more funding is needed for frontline services, not another inquiry which is designed to endorse the government's inadequate response to the national crisis. 

Greens Senate Leader and Spokesperson on Women, Senator Larissa Waters, said: 

Today's ABS Household data survey provides further confirmation that the impacts of COVID crisis are falling disproportionately to women. The Greens are calling on the National Cabinet to ensure that addressing these disparities is at the forefront of any recovery plans.

The ABS results reveal that women are almost three times as likely as men to have looked after their children full-time on their own during the crisis.