In what is yet *another* example of men in government being absolutely fucked, Liberal MP Andrew Laming has been forced to apologise after two Brisbane women accused him of online abuse and bullying, which is a totally cool and normal thing for an MP to do.
The apology comes after Nine News reported that Laming accused one of the women, Alix Russo, of misappropriating charity funds. Russo, who denies the claim, also told Nine that the alleged abuse she received from Laming made her contemplate suicide.
#TONIGHT: The explosive #9News investigation sending shock-waves all the way to the Prime Minister's office.@PeterFegan9 investigates. #9News pic.twitter.com/0wDIJ4ae1i
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) March 25, 2021
Another woman, Sheena Hewlett alleged that Laming bullied her online. Hewlett has repeatedly contacted the Prime Minister’s office but never heard a response.
Shortly before the Nine News segment aired on Thursday night, Laming apologised to both women in a statement to parliament.
“I want to express my regret and deep apologies for the hurt and the distress that communication may have caused,” he said on Thursday.
“I want to retract those comments and issue a public unreserved apology.”
It is unclear if he has personally reached out to either of the women.
In addition to his apology, he also said he had lessons to learn about how his words impact others, which is quite literally what they teach you in Year 1 but sure, okay buddy.
“I have made a concerted effort to understand the impact of these responses upon others and demonstrate a clear change in the way I communicate,” he said, seemingly illustrating that nobody ever told him to treat others how he’d wish to be treated.
“I want to say to any person who has received correspondence from me which fell short of what they expect from an MP that I intend to own that failure and apologise without hesitation.”
In news that is completely unsurprising after the last month in politics, there is no reason to believe that Laming will step down, or be stood down, as a result of this. Go figure, I guess.
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