In a statement read aloud in the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, the Finance Minister denied the recent accusations leveled against her.
“Coalition members, including individuals who are the subject of rape charges, have been accusing me of misleading the Senate over comments I made over two years ago for the past week. I deny such charges,” Ms. Gallagher stated.
“I have always behaved myself with the utmost standards of integrity, and I take my duties as a Senator to this place extremely seriously. And I will always.
I did not deceive the Senate, I said.
During Senate Estimates on June 4, 2021, the then-defence minister Linda Reynolds alleged that Ms. Gallagher and Senator Penny Wong were aware of the charges before they were made public in February 2021.
“I was told by one of your Senators two weeks before about what you were intending to do with the (Higgins) story in my office,” Ms. Reynolds said.
At the time, Ms. Gallagher responded, “How dare you, no one had any knowledge.”
The Finance Minister stated on Tuesday that she was “shocked” by the former Liberal frontbencher’s claim.
“That wasn’t accurate. Never was it accurate. And I refuted that claim by asserting that no one was aware,” Ms. Gallagher added.
I communicated that to Senator Reynolds in a lengthy private conversation that evening in which various topics were covered.
Prior to the charges being made public, she informed Ms. Reynolds that she had been made aware of them. The former defense minister “accepted at the time” what she had said.
Senators Wong and Gallagher and I had a very respectful discussion before the dinner break and they assured me they were not involved in the matter becoming public. Senator Reynolds even stated as much on the record in Senate estimates that same night, and I quote, “I would like to say in relation to the matters raised before the dinner break, Senators Wong and Gallagher and I had a very respectful discussion before the dinner break.”
Ms. Gallagher added that neither she nor Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate Anne Ruston raised any issues, believing that this “proved” Ms. Reynolds comprehended their interaction.
Following the revelation of private messages last week that revealed Ms. Gallagher was aware of Ms. Higgins’ claims on February 11, four days before The Project interview aired, the Coalition has kept up the pressure on Labor regarding whether or not Ms. Gallagher lied to parliament.
The Finance Minister emphasized her reaction to the charge that she had “weaponized” the rape allegations several times during the June Senate Estimates.
She emphasized that Ms. Higgins “did nothing with that information” and claimed that she made her story public of her own free will.
I complied with the request to keep it to myself. In contrast to the hundreds of other instances that people have contacted me throughout my career as a legislator and asked me to keep their information private, I did nothing differently on this occasion, Ms. Gallagher said.
“I had nothing to do with the news item that was shown that evening or posted online the following morning. I had nothing to do with when this news was broadcast or published.
Any accusations or claims that I done something wrong are false, and I strongly reject them.
The issue is expected to take center stage during the last two weeks of the legislature’s session before MPs and Senators adjourn for the holiday vacation.
Anthony Albanese has been compelled to “come clean” about what transpired in the days prior to and following the publication of Ms. Higgins’ claims by senior Coalition frontbenchers.
Instead, the attacks have been dubbed a “bizarre conspiracy theory” by the prime minister.
In response to criticism from the opposition, Ms. Gallagher shifted the focus back to the Coalition and claimed that the then-Morrison administration had failed to significantly improve the conditions for women in parliament.
“But the fact remains that those who directly owed Ms. Higgins a duty of care had known of this for almost two years, and did nothing to make changes or improve culture and safety in the workplace where this incident had occurred,” she added.
According to Ms. Gallagher, the previous administration treated Ms. Higgins as a “problem that needed managing” and responded in a way that was “calculated by the political needs.”
The fact that I’m giving a statement to the Senate but individuals who were considerably closer to the events in 2019 haven’t seems weird to me, she added.
“We want parliament to be a model workplace, where staff members feel supported and secure enough to report harassment and violence if they happen.
“However, the events of the last week, with the media coverage, the concerns over the release of a young woman’s private phone records used in court, splashed across TV and newspaper, with opposition members giddy with the courage, has done nothing but seriously damage this confidence,” the author writes.
