Liberal staffer in rape claims
A GOLD Coast Liberal staffer who was allegedly raped in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds claims she felt the incident was only taken seriously because it took place in Parliament House.
Former media adviser Brittany Higgins has revealed she felt there were people in the Morrison Government who “didn’t care” about her horrific experience, and only “cared about the (Liberal) Party”.
Ms Higgins was 24 and only four weeks into her job when she was allegedly raped by a male staffer on a couch in Ms Reynolds’ office after an event in Canberra on March 23, 2019.
She said after an evening drinking with colleagues, the pair agreed to share a taxi as they lived in the same direction, but instead the man brought her to Parliament House.
After arriving in Ms Reynolds’ office, Ms Higgins said she began to feel unwell and laid on the couch.
She alleges she woke to up to find the Liberal staffer having sex with her.
“I told him to stop,” she said. “I was crying the whole way through it.”
ACT Policing yesterday confirmed an investigation into the matter remained open following an initial report in April 2019, but was not being actively pursued as the victim had decided not to lodge a formal complaint at this time.
In the days following the incident, parliamentary staff initially addressed it as a security breach, due to the highly classified information often located in the office.
Ms Higgins was called to a formal employment meeting in the same room the alleged rape occurred, where she was told the man had resigned due to the security issue.
After disclosing the assault allegations, Ms Higgins said she felt it was impressed upon her by staff the matter was a “political issue” and not “something to be shared”.
“It’s devastating and it’s soul destroying … but the only thing that I know that made everyone else care about it was (where it happened) and who it was connected to,” she said.
A government spokesman confirmed on March 26, 2019, Ms Reynolds’ senior staff became aware the office was accessed after hours and that an “incident” had occurred.
“Ms Higgins was notified that should she choose to, she should pursue a complaint, including a complaint made to the police, and that to do so was within her rights,” he said.
The spokesman said the decision to hold the meeting with Ms Higgins in the same location as the alleged rape was “regretted” in hindsight.
Ms Reynolds said she had repeatedly told Ms Higgins any decision would not impact upon the young staffer’s career as she had feared.
“We did everything we could to make sure that she had choice in what she did,” she said.
A spokesman for ACT Policing said: “Investigators spoke to the complainant who chose not to proceed with making a formal complaint.”