by Aaron Patrick

Most Australians agree with the Prime Minister that ministers shouldn't be allowed to sleep with their personal staff. But a hardcore group thinks ministerial offices should be a sexual free-for-all: Liberal insiders.

In a party that wants to keep government out of individuals' lives, the new rule is seen by many members and close supporters as prime-ministerial overreach.

While none excused Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce's extramarital relationship with his press secretary, the sex ban appeared to trigger some Liberals' inherent distrust of the #MeToo movement and stoked suspicions about Malcolm Turnbull's commitment to conservative principles.

"I cannot see how you will change the culture around office romances with that sort of ban," said Anne Henderson, the deputy director of Sydney Institute and author of Menzies At War.

"It is not enough to make rules – there has to be a change in the culture. Among adults that can only come with leadership and respect for the institutions such highly paid operatives represent."

Covering affairs

Others are deeply concerned, as political reporter Phillip Coorey predicted in AFR Weekend, that journalists have been given a green light to report on politicians' affairs, which have long been protected by an informal convention protecting them from parliamentary scrutiny and media coverage.

"It implies young staffers can't be trusted to make decisions about their own sex lives," said Tom Switzer, the executive director of the right-wing Centre for Independent Studies who has sought Liberal selection for Parliament. "And it licenses the press to investigate politicians' private lives. It's an invasion of privacy."

Tamara Candy, a former Liberal political adviser from Queensland whose risque Instagram photos turned her into a tabloid favourite, expressed concern the rule would backfire against women in politics by generating more scrutiny of their sex lives.

Media coverage of affairs is tougher on women than men, according to columnist and historian Julia Baird, who studied the case of Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot, who had a secret relationship with Labor foreign minister Gareth Evans.

"This code will be policed by the media, as all behavioural codes are," Ms Candy said. "We have to ask ourselves – will this discourage intelligent women from going into political circles, in a field already dominated by men?"

Strong support

A Newspoll on Monday morning found 64 per cent of people supported a ban on politicians having sex with staff. Conservative commentator Miranda Devine argued the opinion poll of 1632 voters demonstrated that people who work in politics and the media don't share broader society's values.

"No surprise: Voters have strongly endorsed Malcolm Turnbull's decision to ban ministers from having sex with their staff," she tweeted. "Shows the PM is more in touch with community values than much of the political/media class."

Even if Ms Devine is correct, no Liberal leader can ignore the views of their party members indefinitely. Most MPs are highly attuned to the feelings in their branches, where the sex ban is seen by some as a political distraction from a bigger underlying problem.

"It's designed to keep media focus away from substantive and complex issues about influence and improper use of public resources," said Andrew Elder, a former party member who blogs about political media coverage. "Too hard to write, too much work to research – 'sex scandal' writes itself."

Preferential treatment

The perception that Mr Joyce's lover may have received preferential treatment worries some conservatives far more than the likelihood they had an affair.

"How many taxpayers worked for how many hours to generate the $200k+ (including perks) handed to Joyce's in-house carnal consultant?" said Roger Franklin, the editor of Quadrant Online, a conservative magazine. "That's the real offence against probity."

Sex has been a part of high-level Australian politics for over a century. Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, who some regard as the first true Australian-born liberal, probably had affairs throughout his devoted marriage to Pattie, according to biographer Judith Brett.

Bob Hawke, while prime minister, tearfully admitted on television to affairs, and went on to marry his biographer, Blanche D'Alpuget.

Neither politician, though, was accused of sleeping with their staff, and both reached power at a time when there were few or no women in high office.

'Free sex'

The primary criticisms of Mr Turnbull's rule is that it seeks to regulate consenting, non-criminal behaviour between adults, and that it ignores the reality that many couples meet and fall in love in the office.

A young faction leader from Victoria, who asked to remain anonymous to criticise government policy, said Mr Turnbull's objective was worthwhile but the implications weren't thoroughly thought out.

"MPs have been using their offices for free sex for decades," he said. "Most Liberals think it's over the top and illiberal."

Adam Schofield, who was a political adviser to Liberal leader John Hewson, suggested the women who will no longer appear on the starting grid at the Melbourne Grand Prix could be deployed to enforce Mr Turnbull's sex ban.

"Let's make the two bans complementary," he said. "Employ the unemployed F1 grid girls to patrol the bedrooms of Canberra at night. Every time an MP scores they hold up a yellow card and he gets disqualified from the race."

Young Liberal women

One of the interesting aspects of the rigorous debate inside the party about the policy is the silence of Young Liberal women.

In a party that has a poor record of electing female MPs, none of the thee female state Young Liberal presidents and one proxy would comment about the policy, which is primarily designed to protect women like themselves from powerful, older men.

It was left to their national president, a man, to back the party line.

"Many workplaces now have policies to ensure that supervisors and subordinates don't engage in sexual activity," said Josh Manuatu, whose day job is spokesman for Senator Eric Abetz of Tasmania.

"It is appropriate for a similar approach to be taken by the Prime Minister in the Ministerial Code of Conduct."