WA Premier defends Labor by-election candidate over past comments on party culture

Western Australian Premier Roger Cook has described Labor's Secret Harbour by-election candidate as someone who "doesn't take bull crap", after old comments she made about her own party’s culture of silence on sexual harassment in the workplace resurfaced.

In July 2021, Labor candidate Georgia Tree spoke on a political podcast about the actions of the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP) amid allegations from former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins that she was raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Two Federal Court judgements later found Mr Lehrmann did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Ms Higgins at Parliament House in 2019, after a night out with other Liberal staffers.

It was a saga that gripped the national conversation after Ms Higgins went public in February 2021, leading to a national reckoning over women's safety in the workplace.

In her podcast appearance months later, Ms Tree described instances of Labor members erring on the side of caution when attacking political opponents to avoid drawing attention to Labor’s own faults.

"You would have people offhand say, 'Oh God, like we probably shouldn't go too hard on X because what about like, the skeletons in our closet?'" she said.

"It's like the Catholic Church, right, like we don't want to taint the brand, so let's deal with everything in-house, and everyone just shut up."

'Things have changed'

Asked about the comments this morning, Mr Cook was staunch in his defence of Ms Tree.

"What it shows is that Georgia Tree stands up for her community," he said.

The premier said he was "sure" Ms Tree did not still hold the same views about the ALP, and denied WA Labor had any "skeletons" in its closet.

"The context in which she was speaking was five years ago, in the context of the accusations by Britney Higgins against a Liberal member of parliament," he said.

"Things have changed significantly over the last decade in relation to the way people conduct politics."

'We can do better'

Ms Tree said she "absolutely" stood by the comments she made in 2021, adding that no organisation was above reproach.

She pointed to her involvement in pushing for the Jenkins Review, which revealed one-third of parliamentary workers had experienced some form of sexual harassment at work, and for organising a parliamentary sit-in in 2021 to draw attention to issues in the workplace.

"I'm really proud of the work that I did alongside other staffers that led to change," Ms Tree said.

"The staffers now that work in federal parliament have access to HR, there's compulsory training, and there's confidential helplines that they can now access."

Ms Tree said while the culture had improved in politics, there was still room for change. She would not be drawn on specifics.

The Secret Harbour by-election is shaping up to be one of the most closely-watched political contests in WA for some time.

The battle for the outer suburban seat in Perth's south is expected to be a major test of One Nation's popularity in the state, and the ability of the Labor and Liberal parties to fight back.

Secret Harbour has long been considered a safe Labor seat, with the by-election triggered by last month's retirement of high-profile minister Paul Papalia, who represented the electorate for almost two decades.