Originally Posted by
BBB
There's a couple of issues here and with some other cases mentioned in this thread and commented on previously.
Conduct in the workplace or while in office should be subject to some formal internal process. All corporate workplaces will have a policy or a process to follow if an allegation of sexual harrassment or sexual misconduct is made. Political work places...not so much. In the case of the ministerial staffer who was allegedly raped in the ministers office (as referenced in my earlier post), it has become abundantly clear that the absence of such formal procedures is extremely problematic. As is the manner in which they are employed (job security is essentially non-existent and hence there is a disincentive for these issues to be reported). An added difficulty is when the allegation of mis-conduct is made against a politician (which wasn't the case with the ministerial staffer I have mentioned). Politicians are not employed per se and are subject to different processes and procedures (like the impeachment procedure discussed earlier). Presumably if an internal procedure is followed to the tee and a finding is made supporting the mis-conduct alleged, the right thing to do would be to resign rather than put the issue to the whims of politics via an impeachment. But, this doesn't seem to happen.
Then there is the more tricky cases that happen outside the political sphere, like the allegations surrounding the Australian AG or the numerous allegations against Trump. While on the one hand they go to the fitness of the person to hold high office, the simple fact that they are made against a politician means treatment of the issue is going to be a political issue. As Trump himself said, he could shoot someone and not lose voters. What a messed up world we live in.
In the case of the Australian AG, he has taken the step of suing the public broadcaster for defamation. Interesting to see how this plays out as there is a Coroner's investigation into the complainant's suicide, a push, publically and politically, for the AG to stand down while a properly constituted investigation is held and now legal proceedings.
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