Bullying a problem for schools, parliament

Bill Shorten called it one of the grubbiest weeks in parliament's history, and it's a lesson schoolkids around the country can learn from.

On school whiteboards around the country, students will brainstorm ideas to meet the prime minister's call to tackle bullies.

"Bullying and violence has no place in Australia," Malcolm Turnbull said in his letter to schools this week.

The ambitious policy will see schools come up with ideas to stamp out bullying.

This government has a fair few policies actually, but recently, every time they try to sell them someone has what Tony Abbott calls a "brain snap".

At least Michaelia Cash's outburst was on theme.

"If you want to start discussing staff matters be very, very careful because I'm happy to sit here and name every young woman in Mr Shorten's office over which rumours in this place abound," Senator Cash told a Senate hearing.

"Do you want (me) to start naming them, for Mr Shorten to deny any of the rumours that have been circulating in this building now for many, many years?"

That's definitely one for the students' whiteboard bullying list - don't spread rumours about people, especially unfounded ones.

Labor's Kim Carr couldn't help himself in another committee, suggesting young Liberal senator James Paterson was a member of the Hitler Youth.

He withdrew his comments, but only on the because the youthful senator took offence.

Put that on the whiteboard too - don't compare people to genocidal mass murderers.

The threats and insults took the focus off serious policy work that needs public attention.

The government reintroduced plans to drug-test welfare recipients, after the original trial was stripped out of a reform bill last year when the Senate rejected it.

It's controversial, it's politically difficult, and the coalition will need all the clear air it can get to win the public argument.

"The trial is not about taking away payments," Social Services Minister Dan Tehan said.

"This is about helping those people with a problem get treatment, help them help themselves and then get a job."

But Labor, the Greens, doctors and welfare experts all hate it, even though the government has promised more funding for treatment and an independent review of the trial.

This sort of policy needs serious selling to get through the Senate, and it can't be hidden away.

Senator Cash knows hiding isn't a good look.

Under pressure over her threats to expose Shorten's staff, she hid behind a whiteboard to avoid cameras on the way into a Senate hearing.

It was yet another silly distraction that sucked up attention that could have been directed towards the government's policy agenda.

There's another one for the school whiteboard - don't hide from the issues.

The Nationals picked their new leader to replace Barnaby Joyce, who preceded Senator Cash as the 'cabinet minister causing most problems for the government' in 2018.

Joyce's resignation proved to be the circuit-breaker he wanted, but it did elevate Michael McCormack as deputy prime minister, bringing up some issues he preferred forgotten.

As a Wagga Wagga newspaper editor in the 1990s, McCormack wrote a series of editorials attacking gay people, people with HIV, and women's sport.

He has apologised many times since, and repeated his apologies this week, but it overshadowed his elevation to the top of the government.

Add it to the school whiteboard - don't attack people for their sexuality or gender.

That said, if you do, you can still become deputy prime minister as long as you say sorry.

There were other policies pushed out this week - the Snowy Hydro purchase was agreed, dangerous car airbags were recalled, and the coalition continued selling company tax cuts and badgering companies to lift wages.

But as has been the case all year, it was the brain snaps of those who should know better that took all the attention.

The last word was probably best left to Shorten, whose staff were upset and angry about Senator Cash's outburst.

"Australians want us, at the end of what I think is one of the grubbiest, poorest weeks in parliament in recorded history, they just say 'for God's sake, stop focusing on yourselves and focus on the people'," he said on Friday.

Good advice for the schoolkids' whiteboards and good advice for members of parliament.


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Source: AAP


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