‘It’s up to Brittany’
Morrison says offer to meet still open as criticism grows
SCOTT Morrison says he will meet Brittany Higgins away from Canberra to avoid the trauma of her returning to parliament.
The Prime Minister said he would be willing to meet Ms Higgins, who alleged she was raped in parliament in 2019, in person.
He said that offer still stood and it was “now a matter for Brittany” if and when the meeting would take place.
Mr Morrison confirmed neither he nor his staff had reached out to Ms Higgins directly, but the invitation had been “effectively made”.
“We’re happy to meet. I can understand that Brittany (might) wish to meet. She hasn’t expressed that up to this point; I understand why and that’s fine,” he told reporters on Friday.
“We’ve always sought to respect her privacy and her wishes on this.
“I could also appreciate why she wouldn’t necessarily want to meet in Parliament House, that would be totally understandable.
“We can arrange to meet in other cities.”
Mr Morrison has been criticised over his response to multiple allegations that have rocked parliament, ranging from sexual harassment to rape.
But he confirmed the government would respond to the Respect at Work inquiry before the budget, more than a year since first receiving its recommendations.
“I have been directly involved in that process … Of those 20 (recommendations) that directly went to the Australian government, nine we responded to in the budget in October. We are responding to more,” he said.
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins will file a report towards the end of the year, but Mr Morrison said his department will brief him over how to urgently update parliament’s complaint process before then.
“We don’t have to wait until the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s inquiry is finished, which is much later this year,” he said.
“We need such a process much sooner than that. That was one of the first things I initiated soon after Brittany took her story public.”
It comes after Liberal MP Andrew Laming was forced to apologise in parliament on Thursday over allegations he slandered and harassed con stituents in his Queensland seat.
Two women came forward to accuse Dr Laming of online bullying and stalking, including an allegation he took photos of one woman while hiding in a bush.
Mr Morrison said he had hauled Dr Laming into his office to demand he publicly apologise for the “disgraceful” behaviour.
“He’s very clear about my expectations,” he said.
The government has also launched an investigation into the identity of a group of male staffers who shared lewd images taken within Parliament House.