Today, in schools across the country, kids are pledging to call out bullying when they see it. You can bet that pollies from every party will be talking a big game about how important it is to prevent bullying – despite parliaments being some of the most toxic workplaces in the country, where behaviour that would get a Year 8 kid suspended is regularly excused or ignored.
Just last month, former Minister for Women Michaelia Cash channeled Mean Girls by threatening to detail “rumours” about young female staffers working in opposition leader Bill Shorten’s office.
Undermining the place of women in politics is so commonplace in parliaments nationwide that tour guides at Victoria’s parliament stopped letting groups of schoolkids in to watch their state representatives at question time.
Tour guides at Victoria’s parliament have stopped letting groups of schoolkids in to watch their state representatives at question time.
The way politicians treat each other may seem disconnected from real life, but the conduct of people we expect to act as role models can ripple a lot further than some well-meaning phrases about preventing bullying. In the United States, First Lady Melania Trump’s push to combat cyberbullying is overshadowed by her husband’s choice to play the most powerful bully in the world.
During the 2016 US Presidential campaign, and throughout his tenure as President, Donald Trump’s constant message of hate, fear and rage has seen incidences of racist, sexist, homophobic and religious bullying in schools skyrocket. American schoolkids are echoing the behaviour of their President when they tell their black classmates to “go back to Africa where you belong”, or mock the children of immigrants by saying “you are going to be deported”.
Closer to home, last year’s same-sex marriage postal survey campaign saw a spike in people accessing LGBTI-friendly mental health services, especially by young people. As conservative politicians warned same-sex couples were unfit to be parents and attacked schoolkids for wearing dresses to raise money for charity, LGBTI kids struggled to cope. Victorian education minister James Merlino wrote to schools in August, warning that he had received “reports of children and LGBTI families being targeted in hurtful campaign materials regarding marriage equality.”
Still worse was the conservative campaign against the Safe Schools program, a learning module designed to reduce anti-LGBTI bullying that has since been scrapped or rolled back in many states. None of the politicians or media outlets that warned of the “danger” Safe Schools posed had anything to say about Tyrone Unsworth, a 13-year-old Brisbane high schooler who died by suicide in 2016 after being bullied over his sexuality for years. Any politician who attacked Safe Schools attacked the kids it was designed to protect, and should have that fact hung around their neck today.
Any politician who attacked Safe Schools attacked the kids it was designed to protect, and should have that fact hung around their neck today.
Some of the worst offenders drag others down with them. George Christensen, a Queensland Nationals MP, has compared Safe Schools to paedophilic “grooming”, belittled people online for their appearance and posted photos of himself posing with guns aimed at “greenie punks” days after high school mass shootings. While his behaviour is consistently revolting, the weakness of Malcolm Turnbull’s “condemnations” every time Christensen debases himself sends a message that the government tolerates bullying among its own ranks, so long as it’s politically convenient.
If Australia’s politicians are serious about addressing bullying, they’ll need to turn their focus inward, and reflect on the culture they have helped create. Many federal politicians have displayed such courage before on similar issues. In 2016, Labor MP Emma Husar marked White Ribbon Day by sharing her history of an abusive relationship, and her childhood growing up in a violent household. In his first speech to Parliament, Liberal MP Julian Leeser told of his father’s death by suicide to highlight the policy and funding failures in Australia’s approach to mental illness.
A politician standing up on the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence and speaking honestly ‒ not just about the bullying they have suffered, but the bullying they have inflicted or excused ‒ would mean much more than the usual platitudes. If primary school kids can provide leadership on bullying, it’s not too much to ask that politicians do as well.
If you’d like to talk about any issues with your mental health and options getting long-term help, you can reach Lifeline on 13 11 14, or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636.
