‘I‘ll show you who’s in my contacts’: Gallagher fires back over Higgins case

After more than a week of intense scrutiny, the beleaguered Minister has offered up her phone and diary to the coalition to quell ongoing questions around Brittany Higgins.

Labor Senator Katy Gallagher. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

After seven consecutive days of intense questioning in the Senate over Brittany Higgins’s rape allegations, the government fired back on the Coalition during a hostile question time on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher was asked multiple questions about her involvement in Ms Higgins’s commonwealth payout following her allegations she had been sexually assaulted inside former defence minister Linda Reynolds’s office.

Senator Gallagher called the repeated inquiries by the opposition a “tactic”, a sentiment echoed by her colleague and Leader of the Government in the Senate, Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

“The opposition (is in a) desperate attempt to continue this tactic despite what the DPP has said about Ms Higgins’s mental state at the conclusion of her trial,” Senator Wong said.

Senator Gallagher was grilled again over her relationship with Ms Higgins’s partner, David Sharaz, and what information she had received from him before Ms Higgins’s claims were published and broadcast in the media in 2021.

Day 7 of this in the @AuSenate#auspolpic.twitter.com/KiBqEU5IOj

— Jenna Clarke (@jennamclarke) June 20, 2023

She denied a conflict of interest and refused to accept assertions by the Coalition that she mislead the Senate.

On Tuesday, she was asked by Liberal senator Sarah Henderson what she did with information provided by Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz before it was made public.

“I am mindful of the ongoing distress that this, you know, political tactic being played in this chamber despite my statement I’ve made,” Senator Gallagher said.

After NSW senator Hollie Hughes interjected, Senator Gallagher replied: “Well Hollie you can stop saying ‘wow’ because I am being absolutely upfront here. But I am happy to answer [these questions] because even though it’s not relevant, and it’s not relevant to my statement, I know what you would do if I didn’t answer it.

“If you would like to maybe go through my telephone book and I’ll show who’s in my contacts, other diary appointments, things like that. We can continue to play this game.

“But in the meantime we have to be serious. We cannot stand here and say we are creating a safe environment for staff, a safe workplace or an environment where women are encouraged to come forward and raise complaints,” she said.

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt spent most of question time interjecting, calling across the chamber about what the ­Coalition “leaked to the media … what about court documents?”

He was called to order by Senate president Sue Lines as Senator Gallagher could be heard denigrating Coalition “conduct” as she resumed her seat.

“I’m continuing to answer them because I know exactly what will happen if I don’t, but I would also say there are some other questions that need answers in this place. How did text messages get leaked? How did a draft statement of claim for compensation get laid out?” Senator Gallagher said.