Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister confirm that, when he tabled his chief of staff's excuse for a report yesterday, no-one had told Ms Higgins it was coming, no-one had told—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will give the member for Ballarat an opportunity to rephrase the question.

Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the Prime Minister confirm that, when he tabled his chief of staff's report yesterday, no-one had told Ms Higgins it was coming, no-one had told Ms Higgins what it said, no-one had told Ms Higgins it would be tabled and no-one had told Ms Higgins it would repeat the smear that led to the report in the first place? Doesn't Ms Higgins deserve better than—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member's time has concluded. The Prime Minister can answer the questions that were asked within the 30 seconds.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These were serious allegations. They were taken seriously. There was a proper investigation undertaken by my chief of staff. Those opposite yesterday were seeking to criticise the government for not being transparent about the release of the report. We released the report. If we release the report, they are critical. If we don't release the report, they are critical. We released the report in the interests of full transparency. I have not made any comment on the contents of the report or repeated any of the matters in that report. It is there tabled for the benefit of all members—for them to be able to read and have available to them. At the time of tabling the report, my chief of staff also contacted Ms Higgins and ensured that she had a copy of that. We reached out to ensure that she received the report at the same time it was being tabled.