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Emma Husar blasts Labor over gender stance

Outgoing Labor MP Emma Husar has blasted her colleagues for spruiking the party’s positive stance on gender equality while not publicly defending her from accusations of bullying.

Ms Husar says many senior Labor women offered their support privately after allegations of bullying and sexual harassment were levelled against her in August.

Ms Husar told The Australian newspaper that Labor’s quota system was merely “window dressing” federal parliament with women, but said its culture would not change unless “power structures” were overhauled.

She also branded her colleagues “bystanders” when she found herself in trouble and claimed “none of the women” publicly supported her despite privately saying the ordeal was “really horrible”, The Australian reported.

“The Liberals are far from the only party having issues with women. I know many strong, capable women who have told me there’s ‘no way’ they’d consider entering politics due to the brutal nature of it,” Ms Husar said.

Ms Husar, who claims men in Labor forced her to announce she would not contest the next election 36 hours after a series of allegations about her behaviour and use of entitlements were published, said the party’s use of quotas needed to be extended to parliamentary committees, branches, Young Labor and staffers.

“Well get out there and say it publicly. Use your voice to back me up,” the Lindsay MP told the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday.

“Otherwise this will be the same story for the next poor schmuck who comes along, gets plucked out of relative obscurity, out of my single mum life with a child on the spectrum and an estranged ex-partner, and told ‘Hey, we are going to use you to show what great people we are’.

“And then throw me in the deep end and leave me there.”

While close to 50 per cent of Labor MPs are women, Ms Husar says the “elders of the party are still predominantly men”.

It isn’t the first time the outgoing MP for the marginal western Sydney seat of Lindsay has been critical of Labor and its stance on women, since the controversy broke about her alleged management and treatment of staff members.

Labor frontbencher Shayne Neumann said top-ranking party officials in his home state of Queensland and NSW were women.

“Labor’s proud of its record to promote and support women in public life,” Mr Neumann told reporters in Brisbane on Monday.

“Our record in terms of supporting policies that are benefitting women, our representation in federal parliament far exceeds the coalition parties who have a long way to catch up to Labor.”

A confidential internal Labor investigation found Ms Husar had mistreated her electorate staff but did not find evidence to support claims of sexual harassment or of her flashing another federal MP.

Ms Husar is in the midst of a defamation lawsuit against the media outlet that revealed the allegations made against her during the investigation, which included evidence from more than 20 people.

The MP launched legal action against BuzzFeed and journalist Alice Workman over their story from August.

Ms Husar announced she would not recontest her Sydney seat at the federal election following the scandal.

But she changed her mind and said she was eager to recontest the seat, before being dumped by NSW Labor as the party’s candidate last month.

-with AAP

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