Sofronoff inquiry: Former Labor staffer Alex Matters considers suing ACT government after report’s release

A second former political staffer unsuccessfully tried on charges of rape is considering suing the ACT government in the wake of the release of the Sofronoff inquiry’s findings | WATCH

Former political staffer Alexander Matters says he wants to know what happened behind the scenes in the investigation and prosecution of him. Picture: Albert McKnight.

A second former political staffer unsuccessfully tried on charges of rape is considering suing the ACT government after Bruce Lehrmann confirmed he would take legal action against the Territory after the release of the Sofronoff inquiry’s findings.

Alex Matters was found not guilty of raping a fellow Australian National University student in April this year after the alleged victim came forward following media reports the former Labor staffer was charged with assaulting a woman in 2021.

The 2021 charges were dropped after Mr Matters was sacked from his job in the office of federal Labor MP David Smith.

Mr Matters told Sky on Tuesday he would never regain the two years of life he had lost but said he would be speaking to lawyers about potentially suing the ACT government. “The issue with that is I got a verdict but Lehrmann got a board of inquiry that really put everything out and he’s able to point to things,” he said.

ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold SC resigned on Sunday after theSofronoff’s inquiry report accused him of “serious misconduct” during the investigation into and prosecution of Mr Lehrmann for the alleged rape of former Coalition staffer Brittany Higgins.

Mr Drumgold disputed the inquiry’s findings and he did not act in the prosecution’s case against Mr Matters. However, the latter on Tuesday said he wanted to know what happened behind the scenes in the investigation and prosecution of him and whether Mr Drumgold was involved.

“You want to know what decisions are being made in terms of the charges they face and how many times are prosecutors just putting charges through to the jury when it shouldn’t actually be up to the jury at this stage,” he said. “I think the question has got to be asked of what Shane Drumgold had in the decision-making process there and also the decision to take it to trial.”

Mr Matters strenuously denies the allegations made by both women. He said he had a one-night stand with the second complainant that became a casual relationship.

During the April trial, voice and text messages sent by the woman to Mr Matters and her friends were presented in court, including one that said: “I slept with him multiple times … I don’t know if I got raped.”

Mr Matters said it was a tragedy and a travesty of justice that the trial of Mr Lehrmann was aborted because of juror misconduct. “That case … and the pedestal it was placed on needed a verdict; one way or another, it had to have a verdict,” he said.

The trial of Mr Lehrmann was aborted after a juror was found to have brought outside material into the jury room and Mr Drumgold announced on December 2 he would not pursue a second trial, citing concern for Ms Higgins’s mental health.

Mr Lehrmann is suing the Ten Network and ABC over broadcasts of Ms Higgins’s allegations.

The Australian approached Mr Drumgold for comment.