Politics by Rohan Smith 16th Mar 2021 11:04 AM Australian women and the allies who marched with them during a furious reckoning about sexism and rape culture on Monday have made headlines around the world. Tens of thousands joined March For Justice rallies in cities around the country and outside Parliament House in Canberra demanding cultural change. It was a significant moment in Australian history that did not go unnoticed by the world s media. Time Magazine, the BBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Irish Times and Al Jazeera each dedicated significant coverage to the events. We ve Had Enough. Furious Australian Women Force a Reckoning on Sexism After a Rape Allegation in the Government.
00:56 EDT, 16 March 2021
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The ABC did not name Christian Porter in its story revealing a minister had allegedly raped a woman in the 1980s, but the Attorney General will argue in defamation action that the use of two words in the report narrowed down the field of supposed culprits enough for people to work out his identity.
Mr Porter, 50, and the Who s Who of lawyers representing him argue the national broadcaster gravely injured his reputation by referring to the accused man as a senior Morrison Government minister and Cabinet official.
The Attorney General, who denies the rape allegation, said those criteria narrowed it down to just three men who were senior cabinet members and around the same age as the victim, who was 16 at the time of the alleged rape.
MELBOURNE: People attend a protest against sexual violence and gender inequality on Monday. AFP
CANBERRA: Tens of thousands of women protested across Australia against sexual violence and gender inequality on Monday, as outrage grew over rape allegations that have convulsed the conservative government.
The #March4Justice rallies were held in more than 40 Australian cities and towns, with a major demonstration in Canberra following allegations of sexual assault in the nation’s parliament.
Dressed mostly in black, the crowd gathered outside Parliament House holding aloft placards with slogans including “You’re Not Listening”, “How Many Victims Do You Know?” and “I Believe Her”.
Note: the following story mentions sexual assault.
After weeks of vigorously resisting calls for an independent inquiry into a historical rape allegation, Attorney-General Christian Porter threw a curve ball yesterday when he filed a defamation action against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan.
If Porter’s claim proceeds to trial (and that’s a big if), it could act something like an inquiry putting the deceased victim’s friends and confidants on the stand and scrutinising the details behind her complaint in open court.
It means the Porter affair may not go away for many years.
But the attorney-general has a star-studded legal team and Australia’s traditionally plaintiff-friendly defamation law on side. For now, it’s the ABC that is playing catch-up.
Enough is enough : Thousands across Australia march against sexual violence
15 Mar, 2021 10:01 PM
6 minutes to read
Thousands marched across Australia demanding an end to sexual violence, sparked by multiple accusations of rape in the country s halls of power.
Video / 9 News
Thousands marched across Australia demanding an end to sexual violence, sparked by multiple accusations of rape in the country s halls of power.
Video / 9 News
New York Times
By: Yan Zhuang
The protests in at least 40 cities represented an outpouring of anger over the treatment of women at the highest levels of power, organisers said. Wearing black and holding signs reading enough is enough, thousands