Scott Morrison apologises to News Corp over harassment claims

Scott Morrison has issued a late-night apology to News Corp for claiming a woman was harassed in a toilet.

Scott Morrison said he had no right to make the allegation without the permission of the woman involved. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison has issued a late-night apology for making an “anonymous reference to an incident at News Ltd that has been rejected by the company” during his earlier press conference in which he claimed a woman was harassed in a toilet.

The Prime Minister said he had no right to make the allegation without the permission of the woman involved and expressed deep regret for the comments.

“In the course of today’s media conference when responding to further questions I deeply regret my insensitive response to a question from a News Ltd journalist,” the Prime Minister said in his statement on Tuesday night.

Mr Morrison acknowledged that News Corp had rejected the claim. “I accept their account. I was wrong to raise it, the emotion of the moment is no excuse,” he said.

Mr Morrison also said he that especially wished to “apologise to the individual at the centre of the incident and others directly impacted” and conceded that he “had no right to raise this issue and especially without their permission.”

In his Tuesday morning press conference, Mr Morrison responded to a question from Sky News journalist Andrew Clennell by incorrectly claiming there was a person within News Corp who “has had a complaint made against them for harassment of a woman in a women’s toilet.” Mr Morrison claimed the issue was being pursued by the companies HR department.

On Tuesday night, Mr Morrison said that what mattered was “doing everything in my authority to take the actions that are needed to fix the culture in our Parliament and work to make Australia a safer place for women.”

“It is also of the utmost importance that I continue to focus on the needs of those facing our flood crisis, and continuing to lead our country out of the COVID-19 pandemic and global recession.

We have achieved a lot together. None of us may be perfect. We all have our faults, but when we come together as Australians we always achieve great things and can confront any challenge.”