Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. This morning Peter van Onselen revealed that, in response to Ms Higgins going public about her alleged rape in Minister Reynolds's office:

The Prime Minister's office has been backgrounding that her … now partner has a vendetta or a gripe … against the government …

Mr Peter van Onselen labelled the tactics of the Prime Minister's office 'grubby'. Does the minister agree that backgrounding against Ms Higgins to delegitimise her experience would be grubby, and does the Morrison government accept that Ms Higgins's claims of rape and her experience of feeling pressured not to report it should be believed?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In relation to Ms Higgins's very distressing claims of sexual assault and rape: as Minister Reynolds informed the Senate at the commencement, it has always been the intent of the government to support her and to enable her to make whatever decisions she chooses to make, and that continues to be the position of the government. It's for those reasons that Minister Reynolds and her then chief of staff facilitated meetings for Ms Higgins with the police in early 2019, and indeed why Parliamentary Services and others provided police with access to the CCTV footage within this building.

In relation to the claims in the first part of the senator's question, I have no awareness of any such activity being undertaken.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McAllister, a supplementary question?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Will the Prime Minister investigate the claims that his staff are backgrounding journalists against Ms Higgins? If the claims are proved, what consequences will there be for this conduct?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator—through you, Mr President—I will take those matters up with the Prime Minister. I am certain that he has no tolerance for such activities.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McAllister, a final supplementary question?

Jenny McAllister (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would appreciate a response to my supplementary question once you've taken it up with the Prime Minister. Yesterday, Miss Higgins said, 'The continued victim-blaming rhetoric by the Prime Minister is personally very distressing to me and countless other survivors.' When will Mr Morrison stop victim blaming and be straight about the conduct of his government?

Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, the government wants nothing more in relation to Miss Higgins than for her to be able to make the decisions she chooses to make in relation to whether she takes these matters forward with police, and the government will provide absolutely full cooperation in that regard, as we would have, and have, at any point of time in the past. We will continue to provide that support. In relation to the systemic issues in place, my office, consistent with what the Prime Minister has announced, has now reached out across all party lines, groupings and Independents, to arrange for discussions that I will undertake over coming days to enable us to pursue a truly multiparty, independent approach to ensure that, across this building, regardless of the political party that they may work for, an individual can have confidence in the systems and processes that are in place to support them.