Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has faced questions over what he knew about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, as the scandal widened on Thursday.
Mr Albanese was grilled on Thursday about whether he or other Labor MPs had worked with Ms Higgins, or anyone aligned with her, to put pressure on the Coalition over her allegations.
Mr Albanese suggested he did not meet the former Liberal staffer privately.
“I had not met Brittany Higgins until I met her publicly – publicly – on the same day that she met Scott Morrison,’’ he said.
It follows reports in The Australian that Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz planned with journalist Lisa Wilkinson and her producer Angus Llewellyn to recruit friendly politicians to pursue their case. Mr Albanese, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek were named as potential allies.
The newspaper has published leaked text messages it said were between Mr Sharaz and Ms Higgins.
They appear to show Mr Sharaz claimed Mr Albanese gave him his number and offered to fly to Canberra to meet Ms Higgins. Other published texts claim that Senator Gallagher was “really invested”.
Mr Albanese denied coordinating with Ms Higgins, and said he had full confidence in Senator Gallagher.
Ms Plibersek has denied any involvement.
Senator Gallagher rejected the suggestion of involvement on ABC Radio on Wednesday.
“I’ve been very clear with those that are reporting this story about my responsibilities,” she said.
“Particularly it’s been raised in relation to a settlement or a compensation package in relation to Miss Higgins and that I had absolutely no role in that at all.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton urged Mr Albanese to “front up” on the issue.
“The Prime Minister obviously has to front up and provide a true factual explanation of what’s going on here because there are different accounts,” Mr Dutton told 2GB on Thursday.
“Until we know the facts, we won’t know the answers to all the questions that need to be answered and the Prime Minister and others given different statements at different points.
“It seems that some of that may be conflicting now. So I think the Prime Minister just needs to be honest.”
Also on Thursday, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus rejected claims the Albanese government has questions to answer about the compensation paid to Ms Higgins.
She reached a confidential settlement with the Commonwealth in December 2022 after she launched legal action against her employers in the former Coalition government.
Mr Dreyfus said the settlement with Ms Higgins was “entirely in accordance” with the law.
“It’s very common for the Commonwealth to settle claims on the basis of agreed confidentiality,” he told Nine’s Today Show on Thursday.
“It’s very often in the Commonwealth’s interests that there be confidentiality and, often in the case of sexual harassment claims, there is a desire on the part of the claimant to keep the matter confidential.”
Asked if he was confident the government had nothing to hide, Mr Dreyfus said “Absolutely.”
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the government had a lot of questions to answer, particularly Senator Gallagher.
But Mr Dreyfus said Senator Gallagher played no part in the mediation process, and the decision was his as Attorney-General.
Former Coalition minister Linda Reynolds – Ms Higgins’ former boss – has indicated she could refer the compensation payment to the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Mr Dreyfus said anyone was welcome to refer matters to the new commission, which begins operating on July 1.
“Just like we said at the election, we were aiming to have an anti-corruption commission running by July 1, and it will be,” he said.
“It’ll be independent and a matter for the National Anti-Corruption Commission to decide what and how it will investigate.”
Ms Higgins alleged she was raped in 2019 by Bruce Lehrmann inside the ministerial office of Senator Reynolds, for whom they both worked.
After the 2019 federal election, Ms Higgins worked as a media adviser for then-employment minister Michaelia Cash.
Mr Lehrmann has always denied Ms Higgins’ allegation.
His rape trial in the ACT Supreme Court was derailed by juror misconduct, and prosecutors later dropped the charge citing concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.
– with AAP
