Premier defends candidate over podcast comments

Western Australia Premier Roger Cook is defending his Labor candidate for the Secret Harbour by-election, Georgia Tree, over comments she made five years ago. In a 2021 podcast appearance, Tree criticised Labor's response to sexual harassment, specifically in relation to allegations against former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.

According to ABC News AU, Cook described Tree as someone who "doesn't take bull crap" and expressed confidence that she no longer holds the same views about the party. Tree has since released a statement, standing by her comments but noting that politics and the party have changed over the past five years.

The comments in question were made during a national conversation about women's safety in the workplace, sparked by allegations from former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins. Two Federal Court judgements later found Lehrmann did, on the balance of probabilities, rape Higgins at Parliament House in 2019.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, ABC News AU — 3 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.