Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The minister, today in this chamber, said that Ms Higgins had her recollections and she has a right to tell that story. But I believe that Ms Higgins has a right to be heard, to be listened to, to be supported and to be respected. This is a terrible message that we're sending out to young women who work in this place and young men who work in this place. They cannot be assured that they're going to have the support of their minister, their senator or their member when something happens that is unacceptable, that is contrary to Australian law. Their boss won't first have their back and won't refer the issue to the Australian Federal Police straightaway. It is just extraordinary. The minister came in here and said, 'Yes, I did have a meeting with the Assistant Commissioner of the AFP'—only after the Prime Minister had already made that public in the other place. Today she said she had that meeting. Yesterday she couldn't tell us whether anyone else attended the meeting, but today she said: 'I did have a meeting. In fact, I had two meetings. On 1 April my chief of staff came and joined me.' She came back later and, to further questioning from Senator Wong, said: 'I don't know. I will have to take that on notice.'

This is a serious issue. I have no doubt that the minister has put herself under immense pressure in this situation. But she should have been fully briefed, fully prepared and known whether she had meetings with the assistant commissioner, whether her chief of staff was there and when Ms Higgins was there. But now she's got to go and check those facts. This does nothing to assure the Australian people or anyone else that listens to parliament. I know from the number of phone calls my colleagues and I are receiving in our offices that they have little faith in this minister. They have little faith that this has not been covered up. In fact, some would assert that the cover-up goes right to the top, to the Prime Minister, who remarkably says that he only found out on Monday that there was an alleged rape in the minister's office. Anyone who's been in this place for even a short period of time would know that t nothing goes on in this place without gossip and innuendo about what's been happening. So it's an absolutely extraordinary effort by this minister to cover up a real crime. (Time expired)