By Angus Thompson
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has suggested the incoming federal corruption watchdog will choose to investigate the circumstances surrounding the airing of Brittany Higgins’ rape claim and her eventual payout by the federal government.
Dutton said he supported Liberal senator Linda Reynolds referring the settlement to the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and adding there were questions about whether parliament had been misled over a Labor frontbencher’s knowledge of the allegations before they went to air.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has suggested the integrity commission should look into what Labor MPs knew about Brittany Higgins’ rape claim.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I suspect, given that they can self-initiate processes, that this would be one of the first issues that the integrity commission would deal with. I mean we’re talking about multi-millions of dollars here,” Dutton told a press conference in Townsville on Thursday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the NACC was independent of parliamentarians.
“In fact, it could be regarded as entirely inappropriate action by the prime minister or any other politician for that matter, to try to direct the Anti-Corruption Commission into what to do,” he said in a press conference.
Former Coalition staffer Bruce Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to raping Higgins in the ministerial office of Reynolds, their then-boss, in March 2019. His criminal trial was aborted last year and further proceedings against him were discontinued.
Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence. An inquiry has been held into the conduct of authorities in the trial.
Higgins settled a civil claim against the Commonwealth in December. The figure was reported at the time as $3 million, but Higgins has said the amount was much lower.
Reynolds issued a statement on Wednesday saying she was prepared to refer the payout to the integrity commission if no one else did.
She alleged the speed of the payout – with news of the civil claim and following settlement occurring over a matter of days – and the mediation process she was denied from attending to defend the claim, raised questions about transparency and fairness.
“I believe this matter demands the attention of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. If this isn’t done by others, I am prepared to personally bring it to their attention. I believe that such a referral is consistent with the expectation that the public has of its elected public officials,” she said.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus told the ABC on Thursday the settlement was “an entirely regular decision” that was made in accordance with legal directions.
Dutton said he “very much” backed Reynolds referring the matter to the commission. “I think Linda Reynolds is a person of great honour and she feels rightly aggrieved in the process here, and she’s asking for an independent analysis assessment of what’s happened,” he said.
Dutton’s comments follow a story in The Australian reporting on text messages between Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, in which the latter purported to have spoken to Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher about the allegations in the lead-up to the story being aired.
Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher was reportedly mentioned in texts by Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“She’s angry and wants to help,” the masthead reported Sharaz as having told Higgins.
Gallagher said during a parliamentary hearing in June 2021 that nobody had any knowledge of Higgins’ allegation before she went public.
Gallagher said on ABC’s Radio National on Wednesday she had no role in Higgins’ payout, confirmed she knew Sharaz in his previous role as a Canberra journalist, and had “nothing further to add”.
Sharaz also reportedly told Higgins that Albanese had given him his number in April 2021.
The then opposition leader met with Higgins that month, the same day she also met with then-prime minister Scott Morrison to discuss advocacy issues for sexual assault victims.
Albanese on Thursday said he had “absolute confidence” in Gallagher, who is now the finance minister and minister for women in his government.
He said he had only met Higgins the same day she had met Morrison.
When Dreyfus was asked by the ABC whether the text messages raised questions about whether Labor MPs needed to be investigated, he said, “No, just no.”
Dutton said all the facts relating to the saga needed to be aired. “There are now serious allegations senior ministers may have misled parliament. Certainly on the public record, they’ve given accounts that don’t reconcile with the accounts of other key players and I believe that there’ll be more detail to surface,” he said.
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