Alleged Liberal staff rapist sacked for dishonesty

The man accused of raping former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was sacked for gaining access to a minister’s office on false pretence.

Former Liberal party staffer Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped while in the defence industry minister's office in Parliament House, Canberra after a Friday night drinking session in March 2019.

The man accused of raping former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins was sacked for a security breach that included him gaining access to a minister’s office on false pretence and for failing to behave “honestly, with integrity”.

Government sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to publicly discuss staffing issues, said this was not the first security issue flagged in relation to the former male adviser, who is alleged to have raped Ms Higgins in then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds’s office on March 23, 2019.

They indicated more serious offences had occurred within a short time frame.

The Australian understands one of the most serious security breaches a staffer can commit is leaving out highly classified documents in a minister’s office or removing them from the office.

The Prime Minister’s office declined to confirm whether the man had committed such an offence or what the nature of the other offences were.

The Australian understands he was being closely watched by the government by the time of the alleged sexual assault.

The first rule of the statement of standards for ministerial staff says they must “behave honestly and with integrity in the course of their employment”.

The man had no official work purpose to be in Senator Reynolds’s office on the night of March 22, despite his claims otherwise, government sources said. Ms Higgins was not sacked because it was her first “offence” against the standards, they said.

Scott Morrison on Tuesday confirmed the alleged perpetrator’s access pass for Parliament House was cancelled on March 27, four days after the alleged rape.

“DPS cancelled the APH access pass of the male staff member in question on the 27th of March, 2019, and no pass — either staff or sponsored — has been issued to this person since that time,” the Prime Minister said.

It is unclear whether the ­alleged perpetrator had lobbyist meetings or communications with ministers, their staff or department officials at Parliament House after he lost his job.

Asked to clarify why the man’s employment had been terminated, Mr Morrison said: “It was because of a security breach. That was the reason for it. As I understand it, it related to the entry into those premises.”

He said he understood it was because the staffer was in the ­office after hours.

The government says the former staffer’s employment was terminated before Senator Reynolds discovered an allegation of rape had been made against him.

Under pressure for a week over the government’s handling of the incident, Senator Reynolds, now Defence Minister, was forced to retract comments she made to parliament on Tuesday in which she said she had twice met with the Australian Federal Police following the alleged rape.

Senator Reynolds said she met with the AFP on April 1 and 4 and was joined in that first meeting by Ms Higgins, a claim quickly rejected by Labor. Ms Higgins had texted the party as question time aired to say that had never happened, Labor sources said.

In a letter tabled late on Tuesday, Senator Reynolds clarified that she had met with the AFP only on April 4 and not on April 1.

“On 1 April, 2019, I met with my then chief of staff and Brittany Higgins, following which I organised for Brittany to meet with the AFP, a meeting I believe occurred later that day,” the letter states. “I confirm that on 4 April, 2019, I met with the AFP. I commenced the meeting alone, and I was then joined for a brief period by my then chief-of-staff.”

Ms Higgins will give a statement to the AFP on Wednesday.