David Campbell says Australia should stop voting for leaders who require empathy training 

Today Extra host David Campbell has criticised Prime Minister Scott Morrison‘s response to sexual assaults in Australian politics.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia at Saturday’s Hamilton premiere, the singer and TV presenter, 47, was unimpressed by the besieged politician’s speech about sexual misconduct last week.

‘I think if you have to get empathy training, if you have to get ministers to get empathy training, something is intrinsically wrong with the system, and maybe we should be voting other people in,’ said the father-of-three.

He was referring to multiple instances in which Liberal Party ministers – including Morrison himself – were enrolled in ’empathy courses’. 

When asked if being the father to a daughter informed his negative reaction to Morrison’s speech, Campbell was adamant it had no bearing. 

‘It causes anger in me as a human. It doesn’t cause me anger as a father,’ said the Medal of the Order of Australia recipient.

‘I just think that equality matters. Representation matters. And we’re seeing why it matters now.’

‘There’s a reckoning that’s happening in parliament right now, and it needed to happen,’ Campbell concluded.

The Adelaide native is father to son Leo, 10, and twins Betty and Billy, six, with wife Lisa Hewitt. 

On Monday, the Prime Minister revealed his new cabinet after being forced to make changes with two ministers on medical leave and the government engulfed in scandals stemming from the treatment of women.

Attorney-General Christian Porter and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds have both been stripped of their current portfolios and demoted – but will remain in cabinet.

Mr Porter took mental health leave after revealing he was the person accused in media reports of a historic rape in 1988, which he strongly denies.

Senator Reynolds, who is also on medical leave, recently came under heavy fire for her handling of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations in 2019.   

Last week, Morrison was slammed by members of his own party as ‘out of touch’ for his extraordinary speech about women and sexual assault.

During the emotional address last Tuesday, the politician choked back tears as he vowed to improve women’s lives and stop unequal treatment, particularly when it came to harassment. 

The speech was in response to Liberal Party staff sharing lewd photos of sexual acts inside Parliament House, just weeks after Brittany Higgins claimed she had been raped by a fellow staffer. 

He even came close to tears sharing how his wife Jenny, two young daughters, and widowed mother motivate him every day to improve the treatment of women. 

But the emotional address didn’t pull the heart-strings of millions of women around Australia and even some MPs in his own party who believe he ‘doesn’t get it’. 

NSW upper house MP Catherine Cusack was particularly incensed and tore into her party’s federal leader in an extraordinary series of tweets.

‘Dear Prime Minister I am not your wife/mother/daughter. I am a female Liberal MP,’ Ms Cusack said on Tuesday night.

‘I know you love family as do I – and mean well but you clearly do not understand anything about our political experiences.

‘Please talk your women MPs. If they feel safe – they will tell you!’

Ms Cusack slammed Mr Morrison over his lack of understanding of women’s political experiences, many of whom have detailed sexual harassment in recent days.