Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has rejected allegations she misled parliament about her knowledge of rape allegations made by former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins.
Senator Gallagher said while she knew about the 2019 rape allegations before they were reported in the media in 2021, she had no involvement in the information being made public.
“The allegations that were made public were done so on Ms Higgins’ own terms – those are the facts, facts that appear to have been lost in the past week,” she told parliament on Tuesday.
“I did nothing with that information, absolutely nothing. I was asked to keep it to myself and I did.
“I did nothing differently on this occasion compared to hundreds of other times that people have reached out to me in my time as a politician and asked me to keep their information private.”
Ms Higgins said she was raped by fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House in 2019, a claim he has always denied.
Mr Lehrmann’s trial was derailed due to juror misconduct and prosecutors did not seek a retrial, citing concern for Ms Higgins’ mental health.
Questions over her conduct were raised after leaked text messages between Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz emerged last week, suggesting the pair strategised with the then-opposition senator about how to break the story.
But Senator Gallagher said she had always conducted herself with high levels of integrity.
“I have at all times been guided by the bravery and courage of a young woman who chose to speak up about an alleged incident in her workplace,” she said.
“I have always acted ethically and with basic human decency on all matters related to Miss Higgins and I will continue to do so.”
The finance minister hit out at members of the coalition, saying they were yet to make a personal statement to the parliament on what they knew about the alleged rape.
She said the attacks made by coalition MPs following the leaked text messages being revealed could discourage women from coming forward.
“The events of the past week with the media coverage, the questions surrounding the publication of a young woman’s personal phone records that had been provided for use in a court, splashed across TV and newspapers with opposition members giddy with the coverage, has done nothing but seriously damaged this confidence,” she said.
Senator Gallagher was concerned the incident could compel women to keep allegations of serious sexual or violent abuse silent “to suppress the trauma”.
By Andrew Brown in Canberra
Political brawl erupts over Higgins’ allegations
A political brawl over who knew what about Brittany Higgins’ alleged sexual assault and when has seen federal MPs rush to defend their conduct.
WHY IS KATY GALLAGHER FACING QUESTIONS?
* The federal opposition says there is a potential case to be made that now-minister Katy Gallagher misled a Senate estimates hearing on June 4, 2021.
* It says leaked text messages suggest the then-opposition senator knew of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation before it was made public in the media in February 2021.
WHO HAS RESPONDED?
* “I take my responsibilities to this place as a senator very seriously, and I have always conducted myself with the highest levels of integrity and I always will. I did not mislead the Senate.” – Finance and Women’s Minister Katy Gallagher
* “Allegations of sexual violence against women should be addressed in our justice system (and) they should not be cynically prosecuted in the public square for politics, as is sadly and increasingly being revealed in relation to these issues.” – former prime minister Scott Morrison
* “It’s a bizarre conspiracy theory that suggests that Labor is somehow at the centre of all of this.” – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
* “I’m extremely concerned about the message this sends to women … whether you are a political staffer, whether you are a cleaner, whether you work at Aussies cafe, whether you are a journalist, this is not OK.” – Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young
* “It is increasingly clear that a group of Labor operatives conspired to maximise an allegation. It was absolutely brazen.” – Opposition Leader Peter Dutton
* “We have a prime minister that thinks it’s OK to have a minister for women who will politicise an alleged rape.” – Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley
* “The fact remains that those who owed Ms Higgins a direct duty of care had known of this for almost two years and did nothing to make changes or improve culture and safety in the workplace where this incident had occurred.” – Senator Gallagher
* “The people trying to score political points out of this should be ashamed of themselves.” – Senator Hanson-Young
* “We have a reminder at the moment that our opponents know no limits to opportunism. The real tragedy is the impact this will have on any woman contemplating coming forward.” – Mr Albanese
