Morrison’s response to the allegations against Christian Porter raises uncomfortable questions

Ten years ago this month, the then opposition leader, Tony Abbott, got up to address an angry crowd of “anti-carbon tax” protesters on the lawns outside Parliament House.

One suspects nobody remembers much of what he said that day, or of what the rally was about. But the images of the placards that he stood in front of have been seared into our political memory and his legacy.

“Ditch the Witch,” the most famous one read. Another said “JuLiar… Bob Brown’s Bitch.”

It was one of the low points of our political discussion — a reflection of the wave of underlying misogynistic anger towards the then prime minister Julia Gillard that Abbott failed to publicly reject, and sometimes stoked.

There will be another…