Peter Dutton defends pursuing Labor over whether it ‘conspired to seek political advantage’ over Brittany Higgins’ allegations

Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, during question time. The Coalition has targeted Labor over whether it ‘conspired to seek political advantage out of an alleged sexual assault’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has claimed it is “absolutely reasonable” for the Coalition to question whether Labor “conspired to seek political advantage out of an alleged sexual assault” after the release of Brittany Higgins’ text messgages.

Dutton offered that defence of his tactics on Wednesday at a conference ahead of the second question time this week where the Coalition targeted the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, over her knowledge of Higgins’ allegation before it was aired publicly.