Labor Senator Katy Gallagher has been defended by deputy prime minister Richard Marles against suspicions that she may have been aware of the Brittany Higgins allegations before they were made public.
Marles appeared on Today this morning in response to News Corp’s discovery of hacked texts that are allegedly between Higgins and her partner David Sharaz.
According to the texts, Katy Gallagher, who is currently the finance minister, and Sharaz spoke about Higgins’ rape allegation before it became public.
After Higgins and Sharaz made the rape allegation public in February 2021, Marles argued Gallagher had not lied to parliament when she later denied anyone had any prior knowledge.
“She didn’t, no. And she has been very explicit about that this week.
In terms of Katy’s position, Marles said, “Katy has made her position very clear and she has made clear that she is very comfortable with the statements that she has made. That is the end of the matter.”
“Katy has a great deal of integrity.”
Higgins charged former political worker Bruce Lehrmann with rape in 2021; Lehrmann has consistently refuted the accusation.
Following a claim of juror misconduct in October, his trial was dismissed with no conclusions against him.
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus stated yesterday that Brittany Higgins received her compensation payout from the Commonwealth Government “to the letter of the law.”
Former defense minister Linda Reynolds has received support from opposition leader Peter Dutton in her decision to send the compensation payment to the new National Anti-Corruption Commission, which will go into operation in July.
