Ashleigh made it clear she did not seek to comment or make a complaint about a terrible incident that had taken place. Her welfare, reputation and privacy should have been paramount. We have reached a low point where her express wishes are ignored and where rumours are weaponised in a poisonous political environment. Loading From the moment the allegations were aired in the parliament, any power or control Ashleigh Raper had vanished and with it her right to decide if, when and how she would deal with an incident that had left her shaking and fearful for her job. Through these decisions, every woman in our community was told that their well being is irrelevant if there is a political gain to be made. And while it does not undo the harm that has been done, I hope that the resignation of Luke Foley and the strong public statements in support of her from both female and male Labor MP’s give Ashleigh Raper some comfort that there are those who are genuine in their efforts to stamp out sexual harassment and that we stand with her.

These actions are however nowhere near enough. What will the Premier do with David Elliott? The man whose callous disregard for Ashleigh Raper saw him misuse parliament to raise allegations in the hope of bringing down Luke Foley. After a fierce public backlash, David Elliott put out a statement that said "it was never my intent to cause distress for the journalist", demonstrating that the impact of his actions on Ashleigh Raper and her family never even occurred to him. Penny Sharpe, the newly elected deputy leader of the NSW Labor Party. So far, the Premier Gladys Berejiklian has made sympathetic noises about her concern for Ashleigh Raper but refused to acknowledge that David Elliott has anything to answer for. If the Premier is serious she will ask David Elliott to resign. The Premier then has the opportunity to acknowledge the gravity of what has happened and do something she has never done before, reach across the aisle to every elected representative and make a commitment that way politics is done in NSW changes right now.

Luke Foley announcing his resignation as Labor leader. Credit:Janie Barrett These events and the public fury of this week must force every politician in every political party to reflect on how far standards have fallen when it comes to integrity and basic common decency. If there is anything positive to come from this whole awful episode, there is an opportunity to reset the way that politicians choose to discharge the responsibilities given to us by those we are elected to serve. Luke Foley did the wrong thing. His resignation as leader and decision not to contest the 2019 election is the right thing to do. Labor was forced to do some serious soul searching this week. The determination of my colleagues, led by Michael Daley, to change is important but will ultimately be diminished without a clear commitment from every individual politician and the party they are part of to do the same.

Women deserve better than this and the community is rightly demanding change. Premier, over to you. Penny Sharpe is the newly elected Deputy Leader of the NSW Labor Party.