Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has denied claims that powerful men are able to get away with bad behaviour because people stay silent to protect the political party.
He was responding to extraordinary allegations made by former foreign minister Julie Bishop in an interview on the ABC's
7.30 report on Monday night, where she revealed a group of male Liberal MPs who dubbed themselves the "big swinging dicks" tried to stymie her career. She added she wasn't surprised that some women chose not to report to police.
"There's a powerful culture within all political parties to ensure that no individual does anything that would damage the party's prospects, the party's image, or its reputation, particularly at election time,'' she said on the program.