Records vital to get to the bottom of Higgins ordeal

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has revised her story for a second time about what she knew when regarding the Brittany Higgins rape allegations. Her denials have been accompanied by a determined effort by Labor colleagues to discredit questions and disparage the motivations of those who pose them. Anthony Albanese said: “We need to be cognisant of the impact this is having on people.” He told caucus the Coalition knew “no limits to opportunism” in launching an attack on Senator Gallagher.

Senator Gallagher said reprising the issue in parliament would discourage others from reporting claims of sexual assault. “We want parliament to set an example for other workplaces, and if staff experience harassment and assault they feel supported and confident enough to come forward and report it,” she said. “But the events of the past week, with the media coverage, the questions surrounding the publication of a young woman’s personal phone records provided for use in a court, splashed across TV and newspaper, with opposition members giddy with the courage, has done nothing but seriously damage this confidence.” Labor’s claims are red herrings designed to deflect attention away from what role the party played in elevating complaints by a former Liberal Party staffer into a full-blown “women problem” scandal for Scott Morrison. Labor’s concern for Ms Higgins’s mental wellbeing and that of sexual assault survivors more generally sits at odds with the actions Labor MPs took when the scandal first broke. Mr Albanese personally asked 25 questions about it in parliament. Senator Gallagher was able to lead the charge against the Morrison government in the Senate immediately the issue was made public in the media.

Recordings of discussions involving Network Ten journalists and producers and Ms Higgins and her boyfriend, David Sharaz, put beyond doubt the political intent in how the story was delivered or that Ms Higgins was an active and willing participant. The recorded meeting details how the timing of the release of the story was designed around questions being asked about it in parliament. Network Ten producer Angus Llewellyn identifies February 21 to be the ideal broadcast date. “The reason we have chosen the timeline we have is because it is a sitting week and we want the story to come out and then Senate estimates,” he said. With Ms Higgins present, Mr Sharaz said: “I have got a friend in Labor, Katy Gallagher, who will probe and continue it going, so sitting week, story comes out, they have to answer questions at question time, it’s a mess for them (Liberals). March, Senate estimates, hopefully we can try and get the footage that brings clarity and he (Morrison) will call an election. That’s why Brit’s picked the timeline.”

Speaking in the Senate on Tuesday, Senator Gallagher said she had been given information before the story being broadcast. But she said she did nothing with the information after being requested by Ms Higgins that it remain confidential. Senator Gallagher’s claims sit at odds with what is revealed in the contemporaneous recordings and the text messages that were exchanged between Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz. The recording and text messages are embarrassing for Labor, which no doubt would prefer they had not been made public. But given the politically charged nature of the complaint it is a good thing they are available for forensic inspection.

The issue is not what happened to Ms Higgins but what political opportunists were prepared to do with it. Labor’s fears about the message sent to others now the Higgins affair has become a political scandal is overblown. The court process is designed to achieve the exact opposite of what has happened in this case, with the identity of claimed sexual assault victims kept secret. This is why victims are best served contacting police to make their complaints rather than seeking out media or politicians who might have a political axe to grind.