The claim made by former Liberal worker Brittany Higgins was dismissed as “nonsense” by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who maintains that Finance Minister Katy Gallagher did not mislead the legislature.
This week, The Australian published what it claimed to be text messages between Ms. Higgins and her partner David Sharaz, in which Mr. Sharaz claimed to have discussed the situation with Senator Gallagher in the days prior to Ms. Higgins’s public admission that she had been sexually assaulted by a liberal staff member in 2021.
The man who is accused of raping the woman has consistently maintained his innocence, and no findings have been made against him since his trial was discontinued owing to jury misbehaviour and the possibility of a retrial was abandoned.
Senator Gallagher is referred to as “an old friend” and described as “angry and wanting to help” by Mr. Sharaz in the text exchange.
Speaking on the situation on Sunrise this morning, Mr. Albanese disagreed with host David Koch’s assertion that Labour was a part of a “carefully orchestrated” scheme to use Ms. Higgins’s charges for political gain.
In response, Mr. Albanese referred to allegations of a “conspiracy” as “nonsense”.
Mr. Albanese answered “no” when asked if Senator Gallagher lied to the legislature when she said she was unaware of the rape allegation before the news was broadcast.
“This is bizarre,” he remarked, referring to claims made by a Liberal staff member that another Liberal staff member had committed a sexual assault in a Liberal minister’s office. “Kathy Gallagher somehow bears some responsibility for what was going on here.”
During a contentious argument with former military industry minister Linda Reynolds during a parliamentary hearing in June 2021, Senator Gallagher vehemently denied knowing about the accusation in advance.
One of your senators informed me about what you intended to do with the story in my office two weeks prior, according to Senator Reynolds.
Senator Gallagher replied, “No one had any knowledge, how dare you, it’s all about protecting yourself.
The Coalition wants the national anti-corruption commision to look into the situation and the allegedly large settlement deal that Ms Higgins’ department of finance agreed with her in 2022.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said on Thursday, “I just call on the prime minister to be honest and to fully disclose his involvement and Katy Gallagher’s role as the finance minister, her role in signing off on ex-gratia payments.”
In light of these really serious allegations, in my opinion, the prime minister owes the Australian people explanations.
Senator Gallagher told the ABC on Wednesday that she played “absolutely no role” in the compensation arrangement.
When she was chief minister, Mr. Sharaz worked as a journalist in Canberra, thus she acknowledged that she knew him.
But I don’t have much else to say; all of my statements have been made public, and I feel good about them.
Senator Gallagher’s office was approached by the ABC for additional comment, but she was unavailable.
This morning, Mr. Albanese asserted that the private settlement was handled “in the usual manner at arm’s length.”
He said, “Katie Gallagher had absolutely no role in that.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus claimed that it was his job to complete the settlement claim.
He said radio station 5AA, “I did decide to settle the claim that was brought against the Commonwealth, and I can assure all of your listeners, it was done in an absolutely regular fashion in compliance with the Legal Services Direction.
Senator Gallagher still needs to respond to more questions, according to Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley.
“If anyone, a politician or journalist sought to politically profit from a rape allegation, then that is just morally bankrupt,” said Ms. Ley.
“There are real issues here, issues of Anthony Albanese’s leadership and character.
“Katy Gallagher is the finance minister, the minister for women, a senior government official, and a member of the government’s leadership team, but she is not responding to basic questions,” said a member of the public.
The former head of the prime minister’s office and cabinet Phil Gaetjens’ investigation of how Scott Morrison’s office handled information about the alleged rape allegation, according to Mr. Albanese, should be made public by the Liberal party.
In another instance, Mr. Albanese said, Scott Morrison had an investigation conducted into who knows what in his own office by Phil Gaetjens and his former chief of staff, who was in charge of the department of the prime minister and cabinet.
It is actually rather absurd for Peter Dutton to talk about transparency in this situation.
