Kristina Keneally (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Finance (Senator Birmingham) and the Minister for Employment, Skills, Small and Family Business (Senator Cash) to questions without notice asked by Senators Gallagher and Keneally today.

I rise to take note of these answers more in sorrow than in anger. This has been a harrowing week for members of parliament, for parliamentary staff, for ministerial staff, for female journalists, for women across Australia. The idea that, in this day and age, in this building, an alleged rape can occur in the Minister for Defence's office, on the Minister for Defence's couch—this is meant to be a safe building. This is meant to be a safe workplace. Every workplace should be a safe workplace. But we're the Parliament of Australia. We should set a higher standard. There have been points in the last 10 days where I have not been able to believe that I or any other member has been saying the words that we've been saying—an alleged rape of a young woman, a ministerial staffer, by another ministerial staffer on the couch of the defence minister's office.

What compounds this situation, this horror for Ms Higgins, the victim of this alleged rape, and for every other woman who has had an experience like this or supported a friend or relative in the aftermath of an experience like this—because, let's be blunt, these kinds of experiences are all too common—what compounds the trauma of having to relive it or be triggered by this story being told over and over is to feel that you are not supported. Ms Higgins, in her own words, felt pressured to choose between seeking justice from the police or keeping her job.

When we turn to how this matter has been handled since Ms Higgins so bravely stood up and told her story to the nation because she could find no other way to get healing and justice, what has been so extraordinary is that the Minister for Defence—and I wish her all the best in her current medical situation and in her recovery—in the last 10 days has misled this chamber on multiple occasions. She has said things about Ms Higgins that are not true. Ms Higgins has been forced to come back and go on the record to put forward her version of events. When we look at the conduct of ministerial officers and ministerial staff, we now have evidence that three, and possibly four, members of the Prime Minister's staff knew about this some two years ago. We have a Prime Minister who says his staff didn't now about it until last week. We have a Prime Minister who seems to be the one person in this building who had no idea about an alleged rape in the office of his Minister for Defence. Today we found out that the Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton, knew. We know that Minister Cash knew. We know, though we don't know exactly when, Minister Reynolds knew.

My heart goes out to Ms Higgins. Let me be clear: our pursuit of this matter is not just on behalf of Brittany Higgins; it's on behalf of every woman who comes to work in this parliament, or in any other workplace in Australia, who deserves to have confidence that she can be safe in doing her job and be supported if something occurs and get healing and justice. So the questions we ask, and will continue to ask, will be to that end.

Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to this debate. I agree with Senator Keneally that this has been a very harrowing week for senators and members, for parliamentary staff and, frankly, for all Australians. We have learnt about an alleged sexual assault in Parliament House. This is a very serious and distressing matter. These allegations are very distressing. My heart goes out to Brittany Higgins. She has been remarkably courageous. She has been remarkably strong. I again want to place on record my relief, in some respects, that she has decided to make a formal complaint to police.

I think everyone in this building, everyone listening to this debate, every woman and man across this country, expects that, when these very serious alleged crimes occur, justice must be done. That's what we want to see: justice. I hope, trust and expect, as we all do, that the police will fully investigate this allegation as well as, we hope, the allegations made by other women in relation to this alleged perpetrator. As the Prime Minister has made clear, the welfare of Ms Higgins and other women who have come forward is absolutely paramount.

I want to reflect on Senator Birmingham's contribution to the Senate on Monday morning, when he reiterated:

Minister Reynolds has expressed to the Senate how deeply sorry she is that, despite her genuine efforts and intentions of support, Ms Higgins felt unsupported at the time of her alleged sexual assault … In telling her story, Ms Higgins has prompted a national conversation about how we ensure women are safe—

and, I'd add, how we ensure men are safe—

in this workplace that we are all a part of …

As he said, this needs to be more than a conversation; we need to make sure that the appropriate action is taken. I'm very pleased, of course, that the minister, Senator Birmingham, is leading an independent, cross-party review at arm's length to look at how we can prevent such incidents in the future, how to do a better job in how they are handled and how anyone in Ms Higgins's situation can be better supported. We've got universal support for that aspiration.

I do want to place on record my concern about the attack and some of the focus on Senator Reynolds. She's currently in hospital. She has spoken about her medical issues and she is, I hope, going to be very well very quickly, but I think there has been, by the Labor Party, an unwarranted focus on Senator Reynolds. There has been more focus on the 'gotcha moment' than on justice. All of us want to see justice. We want the politics taken out of this. Now that there is a formal police investigation underway, I say: let the police do their job. To the extent that there are unanswered questions, please allow the police to do their job so that this investigation can in no way be compromised. The police will have full scope to ask all relevant questions and to interview all relevant people in relation to these allegations. I say again to Brittany and to other women and men who may have suffered this type of terrible alleged crime: we can do better, we will do better and we want to see justice done.

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise to take note of questions asked of Senator Birmingham today. I want to make a couple of comments following on from Senator Henderson's comments. Senator Henderson accuses us of focusing unreasonably on Senator Reynolds. I say to Senator Henderson, who has left the chamber, that our job as an opposition is to hold the government to account. There has been a serious allegation of a crime occurring in the Minister for Defence's office. There are a number of questions about her conduct as a minister—what she did, what she knew, how she followed up, who she told, what action she took—for which she is accountable to this chamber. This is not anything personal about Senator Reynolds, and of course we all wish her well and we were all sorry to hear earlier today of her medical condition. But that does not mean that we do not ask reasonable questions about the minister's conduct and expect to have those questions answered. What we've seen this week and last week, through the five question times that Minister Reynolds has faced questions, is every question relating to her conduct—what she did, what she knew, how she followed up, how she provided duty of care to this staff member in her office—was not answered. We are not going into the ins and outs of what was alleged to have occurred and by whom or anything that the police may be seeking to investigate as part of their inquiries. We have not gone near any of that. We understand that that is an area for police investigation, and we as senators are not here to perform that role. But we are here to hold the minister to account. She is the defence minister of Australia. She is a senior cabinet minister in this government and these are legitimate questions about her conduct, her suitability, her capability. They are entirely reasonable questions to ask.

We in Labor have been blocked. I don't know whether Minister Reynolds is operating under instructions from another office not to answer questions and to block and stall with the hope that this will go away, that eventually the caravan will move on to another issue, because that appears to be some of the strategy. The other strategy could be to provide conflicting information that makes what's happened all very confusing, so nobody really answers, and we keep going around in a circle. We have an expectation that this minister should have probably come into this chamber as early as last Tuesday morning and made a full statement about what she knew and what she did, and that could have avoided some of the questions or some of the blocking of answers that has been going on in question time. But no statement has been provided to this chamber. There's been no statement from the Prime Minister. Can you think of another allegation of a crime occurring in a senior minister's office being dealt with this way, if it wasn't about an alleged rape between two Liberal staffers? I can't think of one where that was the case and where nobody could ask questions, where everything was pushed away until the police investigated and we'd moved onto another story. Well, we're not going to move on, because we think there are legitimate questions about this minister's conduct—about what she knew, what she did—and whether allegations of this crime occurring were pushed aside in the context of a political campaign, to be dealt with at a later time or, quite possibly, not dealt with at all.

This has been going on for two years, and we do not have clear answers from this minister about her conduct and her role in what appears on the surface to be a cover-up of a very serious allegation of a crime occurring in this building under this government. They are legitimate questions to ask. We don't seek to attack Minister Reynolds personally and we haven't, but we will hold this government to account. We will hold this minister to account. There are questions that remain unanswered. If Minister Reynolds is unable to answer them, then Minister Birmingham should, and, I think, as the big boss, the Prime Minister should also front up and provide answers to this chamber.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I'm reflecting on how proud I felt joining this Senate 18 months ago, joining this august body whose role it is, quite rightly, to provide balance in government, to be a house of review. For the opposition, their role in that process is to hold the government to account. Yet today, in front of my colleagues, in front of the children here, I feel ashamed. I feel ashamed in my heart and my stomach at the politicisation of such matters with real humans at the heart of them, with the lack of respect at the heart of them. There is appropriately a place for the opposition to ask questions, but this ongoing caravan, this circus performance, this confected outrage would go on and on. So many in this place, others who have had experiences of such sexual attacks, of rape, who are both here and in the other place and right around Australia, have this matter compounded—

Honourable Senator:

An honourable senator interjecting—

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sorry, would you like to speak up or would you like to speak while I'm speaking?

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator McDonald, I remind you to direct your remarks to the chair, and I will manage the Senate if it becomes disorderly, thank you.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy President. I pay the respect of listening quietly whilst other people speak and I would ask for that same respect.

Sue Lines (WA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, you're entitled to that.

Susan McDonald (Queensland, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Respect is at the heart of this matter. So many in this place and the other, so many around Australia, who have experienced matters such as this, who are reliving it are being retriggered by the continued and compounded actions of the opposition. People in this community who listen to what happens in this chamber have moved from watching the appropriate questions of the opposition to a creeping sense of horror at the politicisation and the continued abuse of not just this woman but of others, and the absence of respect. It is not the role of the opposition to act like investigator and judge and jury.

It surprises me, because the opposition has made quite a deal of calling for an increased number of women to come to politics and into this place yet it is our role to provide something different, something additional in coming into this place. A sense of compassion, a sense of the human element, is so incredibly important and that has tragically been lost, as I said, in this ongoing compounding of the abuse of not just this woman but of any other person who has suffered a sexual assault. I feel deeply ashamed to sit here and be a part of this performance.

We all agree that every workplace should be a place of safety, that every person should have the confidence to come forward, to report any such allegations of incidents, yet I think we have done irreparable damage because every person who has suffered at the hands of such an attack must now be wondering: is this going to happen to me? Am I going to be paraded through the streets for some political benefit? This is now a matter for the appropriate people to investigate, for the police to investigate. There is a deep determination, I'm sure, from all who work in this place, to ensure that we do change, that we do improve, that we do build a culture where there is an independent reporting process. The Prime Minister— (Time expired)

Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What we want to see here in this Senate and what all Australians need to feel is confidence that we have leadership—that is, all of those things that provide stability, security, safety, hope for the future and, in particular, transparency and accountability when things go wrong. Things do go wrong. They do go wrong. Whether it's in a personal scenario or a professional scenario, things do go wrong. But here in the Senate, when things go wrong, as uncomfortable as it may be, we all have a responsibility to ask the questions.

We have a responsibility to focus on process. We have a responsibility to keep asking the questions that forever remain hidden from being answered. That is our job as senators here, that is our job as opposition senators and that is our job as crossbench senators, to keep transparency and accountability to those in power. The people in power are our coalition colleagues, both here in the Senate and in the House. Like it or dislike it, the reality is that that power has to remain checked.

Something terribly horrible went wrong, right here, in this parliament—after hours, when a young girl had no support, when only now has she taken the courage to speak up. So we keep asking the questions about the process. We keep asking the questions that need to be asked in order to, hopefully, come out on the other side with a better place of safety for all people who work—not only in this building but for all Australians—to see that intolerable acts against others should never be accepted. Sometimes it is hard to ask those questions, but they are never coming from a personal point of wanting to damage someone. They are coming from a sense of responsibility, of our roles as senators, to keep those in power accountable, just as we ourselves are accountable to our constituents in the roles that we conduct back in our own jurisdictions and here in this place.

There is no doubting the sensitivities involved on every level here. But the obfuscation from the Prime Minister in answering important questions, both in the House and from ministers in here, raise legitimate concerns that we will continue to raise. We are unafraid and unashamed to keep asking these questions. You may wish to pose a picture that portrays us as heartless, but that is not the case. You know as much as we do that the discomfort you feel has to be laid bare, because all Australians expect answers and we've not seen answers in this past fortnight.

Labor will continue to pursue this, in the interests of justice and fairness, to eventually reach a position of suitability, safety, for all Australians, whether they work in Parliament House, whether they work in businesses across the country, whether they work in their homes. If it is up to senators here, on this side, to ask the hard questions, let me reassure you, we will continue to do so.

Question agreed to.