The extensive fallout from the rape of then Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office continues to reverberate through both the legal and political systems, long after that fateful night in Parliament House in 2019.
Higgins alleged she was raped by a colleague, Bruce Lehrmann, in the suite of then-minister Linda Reynolds. A civil case found on the balance of probabilities the rape happened, although Lehrmann denied it.
As Reynolds’ defamation case against Higgins dragged on this week in the Western Australian Supreme Court, the Albanese government on Wednesday introduced legislation for a new watchdog on behaviour in parliamentary workplaces. These include not just parliament house in Canberra but electorate offices around the country.
