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

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Defence (Senator Reynolds) to questions without notice asked by Senators Wong, Gallagher, Ayres and Polley today.

What we've seen in this chamber, day after day, is that the Minister for Defence is somebody who cannot remember, who doesn't understand the processes and who has done nothing to protect the privacy of Ms Higgins, yet she comes into this place and hides behind her words, saying that she wants Ms Higgins to be able to give her recollections herself and that she is trying to respect to Ms Higgins's privacy. Well, Ms Higgins's response to those statements that have been given in this place and elsewhere is: 'I don't think she has ever been concerned about my privacy. She wasn't concerned about my privacy when she met with the assistant commissioner of the Australian Federal Police behind my back.'

What has been so disappointing about this whole sordid affair involving Ms Higgins, who has made a very serious allegation of rape, in the office of the Minister for Defence, is that every time this minister comes into the chamber she refuses to give a full and frank account of what she did in terms of supporting Ms Higgins—referring the matter to the AFP, informing the Prime Minister of this country. We have seen nothing but failure on the part of this minister. In this chamber, during question time, the minister all but called Ms Higgins a liar. That's what she did. So the effect that this is having—