Bishop's gambit

CANBERRA TROUBLE

Note: This story discusses sexual assault and suicide.

Former deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop has backed an inquest into the death of the woman at the centre of Christian Porter’s historial rape allegations — which he denies — in a 7.30 interview.

Bishop also questioned why Porter and Scott Morrison have not read the anonymous letter containing details of the allegation, and, separately, argued Defence Minister Linda Reynolds had a “duty” to inform police when her former staff member Brittany Higgins shared news of her alleged rape by another Liberal staffer.

The interview comes after Four Corners revealed that the woman at the centre of the allegation spoke in detail to a sexual assault counsellor about the claim eight years ago. Guardian Australia also notes that another friend of the woman, George Karzis, has come forward to criticise Scott Morrison for “dealing with the allegation as a media and political issue”.

Elsewhere, three young women have identified themselves in order to speak out about their allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Frank Zumbo, a senior employee and adviser of Craig Kelly.

PS: In state news, The West Australian ($) reports that WA’s Department of Premier and Cabinet has held talks with Kalamunda Labor MP Matthew Hughes over bullying allegations by a female former staffer, which Hughes denies.

1800 Respect: 1800 737 732; Lifeline: 13 11 14.

WORKING IT OUT

Scott Morrison will today announce a $1.2 billion extension of the government’s apprenticeship wage subsidy until September at the AFR’s ($) business summit, news of which has leaked to The Conversation, news.com.au, etc.

Morrison will also reportedly push data and digital initiatives as part of a post-JobKeeper recovery along with access to “reliable, affordable and low-emissions energy”, although it is unclear whether this too will amount to a “gas-led recovery” designed by fossil fuel donors.

According to The New Daily, Josh Frydenberg has added that the government is days away from announcing a package for the tourism industry after the general wage subsidy ends March 28.

The news comes as the Commonwealth Bank ­estimates household savings hit an extra $120 billion across the June, ­September, and December quarters, figures The Australian ($) notes are driving resurgent property and retail markets.

Elsewhere, Anthony Albanese yesterday issued a pledge to close the gender pay gap across workforces, which includes forcing companies with more than 250 employees to publicly report their gap.

PS: Note that the apprenticeship announcement comes after the Grattan Institute released a report into the gendered impacts of the pandemic and government’s response — i.e. JobKeeper excluded short-term casuals, who, in the hardest-hit industries, are mostly women — while a parliamentary inquiry will today examine plans to increase the JobSeeker rate by just $50 a fortnight.

INTERVIEW FROM THE TOP

Finally, in a tell-all CBS special with Oprah Winfrey, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry have revealed unnamed palace members had concerns of how dark Archie’s skin would be when he was born, that they were told their son would not receive security or be given the title prince, and that their decision to leave the UK was in part due to racism, specifically among the notorious UK tabloids.

As The Guardian’s rolling coverage of the interview notes, UK Labour has responded by calling on Buckingham Palace to launch an inquiry into the allegations concerning Archie’s skin colour, while Boris Johnson avoided taking a stance, responding to a journalist’s question about the interview by saying, “I really think that when it comes to matters to do with the royal family the right thing for prime minister to say is nothing and nothing is the thing that I propose to say today about that particular matter.”

PS: As The Guardian explains, there are some nuances around the issue of Archie not automatically being given the title “prince” i.e. a 1917 declaration ensures only that the grandchildren of the sons of any such sovereign in the direct male line (save only the eldest living son of the eldest son of the Prince of Wales) recieve the title, although this was overruled by the Queen for the the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children (and future monarchs).