From The News of the Screws Australian, in a masthead across the front page: Hugs, kisses and dread: the politics of sexual harassment.

The former commerce-law student lodged a police complaint last November regarding Mr Zumbo’s alleged conduct when she worked for him as an electorate officer in his Sutherland office from June 2015 — when she was 21 — to June 2018….

The adviser, now 27, told The Australian of the trauma of the three years she spent working for Mr Kelly, saying she was hospitalised with stress and anxiety partly as a result of the ongoing sexual harassment…. “It was awful. I had to go home to a boyfriend who’d say ‘how was your night?’ “You just feel disgusting and used and scared to go into work again, but what else do you do? This is my job and it’s a good job.”…

Mr Kelly said he had investigated the previous allegations and found they had no basis. Earlier this week he said he had provided a report about his investigation to the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, John Kunkel. The woman who spoke to The Australian, said: “I don’t want to be seen as a victim and I also would have fear of what that would mean of getting hired again because I don’t want to be seen as someone who causes problems.

This bit is possibly the most bizarre part of the story.

She recalls being parked in Mr Zumbo’s car, somewhere with a view of the Harbour Bridge, and she has a recollection of being in the back seat of his car and Mr Zumbo trying to kiss her — but cannot recall what else happened.

She was horrified when she ­received a text message from Mr Zumbo that implied that sexual relations had unfolded. “The next day I received a message from Frank saying ‘Thanks so much for a great night. I really hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I’m even more convinced that we’ll make a fantastic political team. How does that sound? Give me a call when you can’.’’

She says she asked Mr Zumbo multiple times what had happened but he would not tell her.“I had no idea what had happened in his car that evening ­although I do remember being in the back seat of his car and him trying to kiss me, but I do not ­remember what happened beyond this point,” she said.

“I confronted Frank about this at work in private. I asked him ‘what happened in your car on Friday night?’ All he would say back, was that ‘anything that happened, you were OK with’, and ‘we didn’t have sex, nothing like that, as we didn’t have a condom’.

Meanwhile, she’s back in the UK running for Parliament.

Below are two paras from Bettina Arndt’s Monthly Newsletter. You should perhaps subscribe yourself. This is Bettina’s email address and her various links.

E: bettina@bettinaarndt.com.au
Website: www.bettinaarndt.com.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebettinaarndt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thebettinaarndt

And these are the paras I find of interest.

For those of you living overseas, or under a rock, Brittany Higgins is a young woman who last week announced, through the media, that she was raped two years ago, when working as an adviser for the Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds.

As the story unfolded, it was used to mount a ferocious attack on the government. Note the timing – coinciding with the arrival of the Covid vaccine, which should have been a high point for the Coalition which is decimating the Opposition in the polls. It is also hardly a coincidence that Higgin’s current partner, David Sharaz, is a former press gallery journalist, now working for SBS and known to be a fierce critic of the government.

Everyone has an agenda. Such as: Submarine blunder: time to cut our losses from Robert Gottliebsen where we read:

But first, a word about Defence Minister Linda Reynolds. Countless past defence ministers have simply adopted the recommendations of defence personnel and then covered up their mistakes. It was like a game of musical chairs which eventually would end. Sadly for Linda Reynolds it ended on her watch.

I am glad Scott Morrison stood behind her over the rape saga but as the last of the “cover up mistakes” defence ministers she is the wrong person to take on the French and end the contract.

Perhaps that’s why Reynolds was admitted to hospital yesterday.

Perhaps that’s why Reynolds was admitted to hospital yesterday. Might also mention this: Peter Dutton defends handling of information around Brittany Higgins rape allegation. Dutton is also mentioned by Gottliebsen in his article about submarines:

From my observation the two toughest ministers in the cabinet are Josh Frydenberg (ask Google and Facebook) and Peter Dutton.

Moving Frydenberg from Treasury is not an option and Peter Dutton’s Home Affairs portfolio is a huge job but there is no more important ministry in the next year than defence.

First there was this: ‘I will lead from the front’: Michael O’Brien says he’s right man for Victoria. This is what he specifically said. You tell me what he stands for.

“Every single day I get up, I’m determined to work for Victoria and to lead my party so that Victoria can do better,” he said.

“I was elected unopposed by my party after the last election because they know that, as a former treasurer, nobody is better placed to lead Victoria’s economic recovery … than me.

“I think Victorians need a better alternative … and that’s what I’m determined to offer.

“They do not want more of the same – more of the lockdowns, more of the waste. They want to see a better, brighter future, and that’s what the Liberal Party is going to be offering Victorians.”

Empty beyond vacuous. So this is where we have moved onto: ‘Borrowed time’: Liberals give O’Brien ultimatum for May leadership spill.

In what was seen as a significant intervention, opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier, a member of Mr O’Brien’s four-person leadership team, expressed frustration during last week’s party room meeting that opposition MPs were not effectively holding the Andrews government to account for its errors.

According to three sources present at the meeting, Ms Crozier implored colleagues to pursue the government with more vigour.

Not as if there is nothing to pursue Dan Andrews over: Victorian wages still hurting from lockdown. And it’s not just that Victoria has had the worst wages result across the country during the last twelve months. There is this as well, which no one knows anything about.

It came as Moody’s moved on Tuesday to change its rating on Victoria from the highest Aaa to Aa1, saying the double downgrade was sparked by a “marked erosion in Victoria’s governance of its public finances”, with the agency predicting the state’s debt – due to hit nearly $47 billion this year – would remain high until the end of the decade.

The Moody’s move had been widely expected since the other main ratings agency, S&P, downgraded Victoria in December and Treasurer Tim Pallas shrugged off the news, saying the government made no apology for borrowing heavily to cushion the state from the worst of the pandemic crisis.

That Government misdirected spending has been at the centre of the problem for years ought to be evident to anyone who has watched the Andrews government and has the slightest idea about what makes an economy prosper. Yet this is all they can say.

The Victorian Liberal opposition was on the attack on Wednesday over the Moody’s downgrade with Treasury spokeswoman Louise Staley saying decision was an indictment on the financial management of the Andrews government.

“This is a significant worry for Victoria moving into the future,” Ms Staley said.

“Moody’s specifically said we do not have the flexibility to deal with any future shocks.

“In other words the cupboard is bare.”

There is so much waste around, but my favourite is the billion dollar train station at the Shrine on St Kilda Road which will never be used by anyone, ever, other than on one day a year, and possibly not even then.

Via Andrew Bolt:

Craig Kelly has quit the Liberal party and will sit out the rest of the term as an independent. Kelly has jumped before he was pushed – his preselection looked threatened – but now represents a danger to the Morrison Government, which now holds just 76 seats out of 151. The Liberals threw Kelly to the wolves, not having the courage to defend him from the media pack, which first savaged him for (correctly) questioning global warming alarmism, and then destroyed him for (correctly) saying studies suggested that ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine, when taken early and with zinc, both cut deaths from the coronavirus. Then today, a final blow: claims, strongly denied, that a staffer had sexually harassed women.

It really is a disgrace. Kelly’s views represent a good deal more of the views of the population than his sole voice in the wilderness on so many issues would have you believe.

NOW THE STORY IS IN THE AUSTRALIAN: Craig Kelly to quit Liberal Party, move to crossbench. Here are all of the first dozen of the comments under the classification as “Most Liked”.

Good luck for the future Craig, keep on fighting for what is right

Good on Craig. He has made the right move, I hope he will stand as an independent against the Liberal candidate in the next election. Morrison has been a disappointment, has shown no leadership in the culture war engulfing our nation. Craig has the common sense and the courage to challenge the climate alarmists and the woke trenders who are taking away our freedom of speech. Well done, Craig, you are in tune with the Quiet Australians.

Do we have a politician here who stands for his principles? Amazing.

There are now a number of medical papers that support Craig’s views on COVID. Makes one wonder why these solutions have been suppressed.

And to the voters of Hughes, if you’re worried at the prospect of conservative voices being marginalized, it’s time to back Craig Kelly in 100%.

Hopefully he will win his seat as an independent. He is stating the bloody obvious about the COVID treatments he has copiously researched.

I can’t imagine why any of them were shocked, they drove him out.

I’d vote for Craig Kelly. He tells the truth as he sees it.

The only one with brains.

He is an honest politician. He can really see what we need in this country. Dams, cheap power from clean coal fired power stations and the real truth about the hysteria of climate change. I hope he joins the Nationals. He is far too good to lose.

Wake up Morrison! Don’t follow in MT’s footsteps.

Good luck for the future Craig, keep on fighting for what is right