Last December, Missy Higgins appeared on Q&A and reflected on a turbulent political year. During a discussion about the rising number of Australian women speaking up against institutional abuses of power, the musician spoke. “Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins have shown us we’re now in this kind of generation where these young women are feeling like they can stand up and call out abuse,” she said. “And they’re not going to be shut down.”
Brittany Higgins, the former Liberal staffer who sparked a #MeToo movement with allegations she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House, and Tame, the childhood sexual assault survivor and 2021 Australian of the Year, had both inspired the singer while she was writing music for the ABC drama Total Control. Premiering in late 2019, the show explores power, corruption and racism in Australian politics through the character of Indigenous senator Alex Irving, played by Deborah Mailman.
