This text incorporates references to rape and sexual assault.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he was “very upset” by allegations {that a} second former Liberal staffer was sexually assaulted by the identical man accused of raping Brittany Higgins in a Parliament Home workplace.
The recent allegations, made anonymously to the Weekend Australian, come amid ongoing requires an impartial probe into the dealing with of Ms Higgins’ allegations.
In a information.com.au article first printed this week, Ms Higgins alleged a male colleague had raped her contained in the ministerial workplace of then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019.
She reported feeling “dismissed” following the alleged incident and opted to not take a grievance additional with police as a result of she was apprehensive it will impression her profession.
However on Friday, Ms Higgins introduced she had “re-engaged” with the Australian Federal Police and would proceed with a proper grievance.
The second alleged sufferer informed the Weekend Australian she had determined to share her story to help Ms Higgins, claiming her assault – which allegedly occurred in late 2020 – might not have occurred if the sooner incident had been handled correctly.
Mr Morrison on Saturday mentioned he did not know who the second alleged sufferer was however that the allegations had been “very distressing”.
“I am very upset about these circumstances and notably for the younger girl … that may be a very distressing occasion,” he mentioned.
He mentioned he was seeking to full an investigation into the complaints as “swiftly and successfully” as doable, noting the allegations would have “traumatised many”.
“There’s important work that nonetheless stays to be finished within the Parliament Home work tradition,” he mentioned.
“This has been a difficult subject for a lot of, a few years. And I feel we might be naive to suppose it is not a problem that different workplaces face all across the nation, however I agree the parliament ought to be setting the customary.”
The Prime Minister additionally insisted that every one ministers who had information of Ms Higgins’ allegations had sought to refer the matter to police, whereas welcoming the latest referral of it to the AFP.
In the meantime, opposition chief Anthony Albanese repeated Labor’s requires an impartial investigation into the procedures for dealing with sexual assault complaints in parliament, describing the second allegations as a “fairly surprising revelation”.
“You want that arm’s-length capability to cope with these points, impartial of presidency or any political celebration, to cope with it transparently. And it must have the authority to cope with it as properly,” Mr Albanese informed reporters.
He mentioned folks might “draw their very own conclusions” concerning the second alleged sufferer’s claims her assault might not have occurred had the right motion been taken.
“It’s totally clear that in 2019, Ms Higgins was made to really feel, in line with her personal account, was made to really feel that there can be penalties for her profession if she pursued the matter,” he mentioned.
“And that she was discouraged from it and in her personal phrases, that the reported sexual assault was seen as a ‘political drawback’ versus against the law towards Ms Higgins that wanted to be handled.”
Mr Morrison’s former chief of employees, the present Division of Prime Minister and Cupboard secretary Phil Gaetjens, has been tasked with main a assessment into departmental communications relating to the incident.
With AAP.
When you or somebody you recognize is impacted by sexual assault, you possibly can name 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or go to http://1800RESPECT.org.au.