Australian PM apologizes to ex-staffer who alleged she was raped in a minister’s workplace

Image Source : AP Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks at a press convention to debate sexual assault allegations towards a male staffer at Parliament House in Canberra.
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday apologized to a former authorities staffer who alleged she was raped by a colleague in a minister’s workplace two years in the past.
The former staffer Brittany Higgins alleged in a tv interview on Monday {that a} colleague had raped her within the workplace of the then-Defense Industry Minister Linda Reynolds weeks earlier than the 2019 election and that she didn’t obtain the assist she wanted from bosses or different colleagues.
The man she accused, who has not been named, was fired for a safety breach in taking Higgins into the minister’s workplace and leaving her there on a sofa after an evening of heavy ingesting.
Higgins, who was Reynolds’ media adviser, stated she determined to not pursue a police criticism on the time as a result of she felt strain that doing so would have an effect on her employment.
She resigned in January this yr and stated she plans to reinstate her police criticism.
“I think that resigning is the only thing I can personally do to say that I don’t think anyone else should go through what I went through,” Higgins instructed Network Ten.
Morrison stated Reynolds shouldn’t have questioned Higgins about her accusation in the identical workplace the place Higgins alleged the rape passed off.
“That should not have happened, and I do apologize,” Morrison instructed reporters.
Reynolds, who’s now protection minister, additionally apologized for elevating the matter with Higgins in her workplace, including that the minister had not performed sufficient to assist the then 24-year-old staffer.
“I deeply, deeply regret conducting the meeting in my office where the alleged incident occurred,” Reynolds stated.
Reynolds instructed the Senate she by no means gave Higgins a selection between her job and making a police criticism.
Morrison described Higgins’ allegation as a wake-up name that should drive change inside Parliament House.

“It shatters me that still, in this day and age, a young woman can find herself in the vulnerable situation that she was in, not her doing,” Morrison stated.
“We have to do more, whether it’s in this workplace or any other workplace in the country, to ensure people can work safely in their place and be at their best and do what they went into that job to do,” he added.
Morrison appointed authorities lawmaker Celia Hammond to work with political events to research Parliament House tradition, enhance office requirements and to guard employees.
An automated reporting obligation to division officers shall be established for such allegation, Morrison stated.
Morrison stated he first heard of Higgins’ allegation on Monday and his workplace solely realized about it on Friday final week.
The opposition questioned how Morrison might proceed to have faith in Reynolds since she hadn’t instructed him of the alleged rape.
“My understanding is the minister acted in good faith toward Brittany and sought to support Brittany,” Morrison replied.
Higgins issued a media assertion on Tuesday thanking Morrison for his apology.
“The prime minister’s announcement of an investigation into the culture in Parliament House is a welcomed first step, though it is long overdue,” Higgins stated.
“It should not have taken my story, or the story of other victim-survivors to air on national television for the prime minister — or any Member of Parliament — to take action on workplace sexual harassment, assault or bullying,” she added.
Parliament House wanted an impartial reporting mechanism for employees in order that they might confidently and safely make complaints, Higgins stated.
The Associated Press doesn’t normally determine alleged victims of sexual assault, however Higgins has chosen to determine herself within the media.
Opinion polls pointed to Morrison’s conservative coalition authorities shedding energy on the 2019 election which passed off weeks after the alleged rape. But the federal government achieved a slim victory.
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