What Penny Wong knew about Brittany Higgins’ allegations

Senate leader Penny Wong was briefed on the findings of a secret probe into “an incident” in a ministerial office months before Brittany Higgins went public with her story.

Senate leader Penny Wong was personally briefed on the findings of a secret probe into “an incident” in a ministerial office at Parliament House in late 2020, months before Brittany Higgins went public with her story.

It occurred just weeks before former Defence Minister Linda Reynolds claims that the late Senator Kimberley Kitching told her she was concerned about what “Penny was going to unleash.”

News.com.au can reveal for the first time that Senator Wong received a private briefing about a secret investigation but was not told at that stage of Brittany Higgins’ name or that there was a rape allegation.

Senator Wong said today she was not aware of the “full details” until the story broke.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

It follows a storm of controversy over whether Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has misled Parliament when she suggested “no one had any knowledge” of the allegations.

However, the “incident” referred to was the late-night arrival of Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins after an evening of drinking that exploded into a national scandal after Ms Higgins went public in February, 2021.

The secret investigation followed an anonymous tip off handed to the presiding officers, Speaker Tony Smith and President of the Senate Scott Ryan, that alleged improper conduct by parliamentary officials over the cleaning of the office.

It included complaints about the decision to order a special clean of Linda Reynolds’ suite on March 23, 2021 and whether a potential crime scene had been tampered with – claims the AFP investigated and rejected.

The investigation was conducted by former Inspector-General of Intelligence Vivienne Thom, who was charged with examining CCTV of Ms Higgins and Mr Lehrmann at Parliament House.

Brittany Higgins. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

It was after that date that Senator Wong was briefed on the findings. But she was not told the complainant’s name – Brittany Higgins – or that there was a rape allegation.

After news.com.au approached Senator Wong for comment this morning, she made the following statement.

“I want to make it clear I did not know the full details of the allegations before the story became public,’’ she said.

“There are others who did know a lot of detail, including in the Morrison government who still failed to account for what they did with this information.

“But I do want to make this (clear), President Ryan, the former president of the senate made a statement in the Senate some time ago, in which he indicated that a number of senators including me, were aware of some details as early as 2020 when an anonymous complaint or anonymous complaints were made to presiding officers. Those details have never been made public, including by me.”

Senator Penny Wong was briefed regarding queries relating to the retention of CCTV footage. Picture: 7 News Spotlight

After police concluded there was not cover up – because there had been no disclosures of a potential sexual assault to either parliamentary security or DPS before the cleaning was authorised, the AFP concluded the investigation.

Former inspector general Vivienne Thom then conducted a second investigation.

According to the DPS statement, the conclusion of this inquiry was the evidence did not substantiate claims that incident reports had been amended, or that a senior DPS official instructed the building security division to have the suite cleaned.

Bruce Lehrmann. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ben Appleton

There is no suggestion to date that Senator Wong was in touch with Ms Higgins or her partner David Sharaz.

News.com.au revealed in February, 2021, that police investigated the matter after concerns were raised about the decision to send in the cleaners on the same day the woman, 24-year-old Brittany Higgins, was found in a disorientated state.

But the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) says the Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigation found that because it did not know at the time it was a potential sexual assault that no “criminality” was involved in the clean.

After an anonymous tip off was sent to the late Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching in March, 2020 – which included claims Department of Parliamentary Services ordered an office to be cleaned – possibly interfering with a crime scene – the AFP investigated and found that because there was there was no crime because there was no allegation of rape when the room was cleaned.

President of the Senate Scott Ryan then personally briefed Senator Wong in her capacity as Labor’s Senate leader and also briefed the Government Senate leader Mathias Cormann in late 2020.

A statement from President of the Senate Scott Ryan confirming a brief telephone discussions with Senator Penny Wong.

“It was these reports that led me with the Speaker’s agreement on the 16th of October 2020 to have a to have brief telephone discussions with Senator Cormann and Senator Wong to address queries regarding the retention of CCTV footage and to advise that we were undertaking an independent inquiry into the actions of DPS staff, following the receipt of anonymous correspondence and its referral to the AFP,’’ Senator Ryan confirmed in a statement to Parliament.

“Neither senator was aware of the correspondence prior to this. I did not disclose to these senators any allegation of sexual assault.

“On the same day as this, that the Speaker and I informed a member of the prime minister’s office, John Harris, that I would be informing senators Cormann and Wong to this effect. There was no discussion of any allegation of sexual assault.”

Senator Cormann has previously confirmed he was briefed two years ago, before he left politics.

“Shortly before I left, I was made aware of some DPS (Department of Parliamentary Services) footage having been maintained,’’ he said.

“I was not aware of an alleged rape back then.”

Separately, confidential briefings were also offered to the late Senator Kimberley Kitching, Liberal Senator James Paterson and Labor Senator Tim Ayres.

“In March 2020, a senator referred to the Presiding Officers incomplete correspondence containing anonymous and serious allegations,’’ a DPS spokesperson said.

News.com.au understands the original allegation – rejected by Ms Thom – was that there was an alleged rape in a ministerial office and that the room was cleaned in a move that the whistleblower feared could have tampered with a crime scene.

The matter was referred to the Australian Federal Police which responded in June, 2020.

“Separate to the allegations of sexual assault, the AFP also conducted enquiries into the actions of the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) staff in the initial handling of the incident, including whether there was any criminality identified, such as any attempts to conceal or interfere with a suspected crime scene,’’ a Department of Parliamentary Services spokesman said.

“The AFP was able to establish that both DPS and Parliamentary Security Services (PSS) staff were involved in the response to this incident, and that there were no disclosures of sexual assault made on the day of the incident and therefore actions taken by them were not in response to a suspected crime.”

After the AFP concluded their investigation, the Presiding Officers appointed Vivienne Thom to conduct a secret probe into allegations surrounding parliamentary staff.

“This inquiry was reported to the DPS Secretary on 29 October 2020 and was passed to the Presiding Officers,’’ a DPS spokesperson confirmed.

According to the Department of Parliamentary Services this investigation did not “not substantiate the claim that a senior official within DPS subsequently instructed staff to amend incident reports to minimise the event and remove key information” and “did not substantiate the claim that a senior official within DPS instructed the Building Security Division to have the suite cleaned.”

“The Presiding Officer’s were not aware of the identity of Ms Higgins until contacted by media on Friday 12 February 2021.”