Mon 15 March 2021:
The #March4Justice rallies were held on Monday in more than 40 Australian cities and towns, with a major demonstration in Canberra following allegations of sexual assault in the nation’s parliament.
Ex-Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins, who has alleged she was raped by a male colleague, declared the “system is broken” as she spoke to the March 4 Justice crowd in Canberra.
What started as a single tweet has turned into tens of thousands of people flooding city streets across Australia to take a stand against gendered violence in the Women’s March 4 Justice rally.
After a long pause in front of a large crowd awaiting her address, Ms Higgins said she spoke today “out of necessity”.
“We are all here today not because we want to be here, because we have to be here. We fundamentally recognise the system is broken, the glass ceiling is still in place, and there are significant failings in the power structures within our institution,” she said.
“We are here because it is unfathomable that we are still having to fight this same stale, tired fight.
“It’s time our leaders on both sides of politics stop avoiding the public and side-stepping accountability. It’s time we actually address the problem.”
The Women’s March 4 Justice movement, which has more than 40 rallies registered across the country, is calling for change in Federal Parliament, demanding all politicians address and “put an end to the issues of sexism, misogyny, dangerous workplace cultures and lack of equality in politics and the community at large”.
Tens of thousands of women have protested across Australia against sexual violence and gender inequality, with tens of thousands hitting the streets as outrage grows over rape allegations that have convulsed the conservative government.
Protesters in Melbourne carried a metres-long white banner bearing the names of all the women killed in Australia from gendered violence since 2008, while those outside Parliament House in Canberra prepared to deliver two petitions demanding change.
The movement began 18 days ago when Melbourne academic Janine Hendry tweeted an idea to form a ring of people around Parliament House.
The 58-year-old Melbourne academic pondered how many disgruntled women coming together around Parliament House it would take for politicians to action change.
The protests could be the “biggest uprising of women that Australia’s seen” as thousands demand government reform.
Organisers of Monday’s rallies declined an offer from Prime Minister Scott Morrison to speak with them privately, saying attending a closed-door meeting would be “disrespectful” to alleged victims.
“I think the prime minister, if he really cared about women, really cared about our voices… he (could) open the door, walk across the forecourt and come and listen to us,” organiser Janine Hendry told the ABC.
An estimated 10,000 joined the protest in Melbourne, with thousands more in major cities including Canberra and Sydney.
Several thousand also rallied in Porter’s hometown of Perth on Sunday.
Large crowds have made impassioned pleas to the Federal Government to listen to the gender violence reforms they are calling for outside Sydney’s Town Hall.
Town Hall Square has filled with thousands of people, with crowds spilling out to George Street and beyond.
Protesters have scuffled with police in Melbourne’s CBD as passionate pleas of justice for women turned violent this afternoon.
The splinter group from the march called for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Attorney-General Christian Porter to stand down from their roles as activists say their voices are being ignored by political leaders.
Thousands gathered at King George Square in Brisbane to rally in the women’s justice march as Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk assured cabinet would “absolutely” be showing their support.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his offer to meet with rally organisers privately was “a good faith action”, but he respected their right to refuse.
“I respect their right of organisers to choose not to meet – that is their right and I respect the right,” he said during Question Time.
