Political war of words ramps up over Brittany Higgins case

The war of words over who knew what and when about Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape has escalated with new claims.

Labor frontbencher Anika Wells has defended colleague Katy Gallagher from accusations she misled parliament about her knowledge of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation.

With the Coalition ramping up its claims Labor used Ms Higgins’ alleged sexual assault for political leverage, Ms Wells on Sunday suggested Senator Gallagher was being smeared by “fairly craven political operators”.

“I think (Senator Gallagher) said yesterday that she was aware of some things and she didn’t act on it, she didn’t do anything with that information,” Ms Wells told ABC Insiders.

“And honestly, the political conjecture that has gone on this week about this issue I find pretty horrifying and failing to see a really awful forest for the trees.”

The government and the opposition have been locked in a fresh war of words over the case since leaked text messages called into question Senator Gallagher’s earlier claim that “no one” in Labor was aware of Ms Higgins’ complaint before the story broke.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher is facing heat over what she knew about Ms Higgins’ complaint and when. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Earlier on Sunday, opposition legal affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the government’s defence was “flimsy”, while Nationals leader David Littleproud accused Labor of having “weaponised” Ms Higgins’ claims.

“I think not only are there questions for Katy Gallagher to answer around what she knew when, but I think the government needs to be transparent with the Australian people,” Mr Littleproud told Sky News.

The leaked text messages suggest Ms Higgins’ boyfriend, David Sharaz, was in contact with Senator Gallagher before Ms Higgins’ alleged sexual assault became public knowledge.

Ms Higgins came forward in February 2021 to allege she had been raped by fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann inside the office of then-defence minister Linda Reynolds.

Mr Lehrmann has always denied Ms Higgins’ allegation. His criminal trial last year was derailed by juror misconduct and ACT prosecutors later dropped the charges against him.

During a Senate Estimates hearing in June 2021, Senator Reynolds accused Labor senators of having been secretly briefed on Ms Higgins’ rape allegation before the story broke.

In response to the claim, Senator Gallagher said: “No-one had any knowledge. How dare you. It’s all about protecting yourself.”

Bruce Lehrmann’s criminal trial was thrown out last year and the charges against him were later dropped. Picture: NCA NewsWire/ Flavio Brancaleone

On Saturday, Senator Gallagher “categorically denied” having misled parliament over her knowledge of Ms Higgins’ claims, saying she had been “honest and clear” about what she knew and when.

“The answer to the question about the allegation of misleading is no, I did not mislead the parliament,” she said.

“I was responding to an assertion that was being made by the Minister, Reynolds, at the time that we had known about this for weeks and had made a decision to weaponise it.”

Senator Gallagher said she had been made aware of “some allegations” in the days leading up to Ms Higgins’ explosive television interview in February 2021.

Ms Higgins received a confidential payout after reaching a settlement agreement with the commonwealth in December 2022 after she launched legal action against her employers in the previous coalition government.

Originally published as Political war of words ramps up over Brittany Higgins case