Morrison promised an investigation into the alleged rape and culture within the country’s political capital, a day after the former employee went to the media with her story.
Brittany Higgins alleges she was raped by a former colleague in the defense minister’s office after an evening job event in March 2019.
In an interview with Australia’s Network 10 “The Project” program on Monday, Higgins said she tried to go home, but the unidentified colleague insisted that they go to Parliament in a taxi to “catch something”, where she passed out on a couch.
She told “The Project” that she woke up to find her colleague over her “rape” and, when she repeatedly asked him to stop, he didn’t. Higgins did not publicly identify his alleged rapist.
Higgins said he spoke to the police in early April 2019, but decided not to make a formal complaint amid concerns about his career prospects. “It just isn’t the right decision for me personally, especially in light of the demands of my workplace,” she wrote, according to news.com.au. Canberra police confirmed to Reuters that they spoke to a complainant in April 2019, but she chose not to make a formal complaint.
After Higgins told the senior team at Reynolds’ office about the alleged attack, she said in the interview that she was invited to attend a meeting at the office where she claims to have been beaten.
Defense Minister Linda Reynolds told Parliament on Monday that she did not know the content of the allegations when she called the meeting with her official and “if I had known, I would have conducted the meeting elsewhere”.
“This shouldn’t have happened and I apologize,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra. “I want to make sure that any young person who works in this place is as safe as possible.”
According to Morrison, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet officer, Stephanie Foster, will investigate how complaints about the workplace in Parliament are handled. There will also be a separate investigation into the culture of the workplace.
In a statement to CNN, Higgins said she performed “because I didn’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else”.
While she thanked Morrison for her apology, Higgins said the prime minister’s announcement of an investigation into Parliament’s culture was “long overdue”.
“I shouldn’t have taken my story, or the story of other victims-survivors on national television, to the prime minister – or any member of parliament – to take action against sexual harassment, assault or intimidation in the workplace,” she said. in the declaration.
Higgins’ allegations are the latest in a series of accusations made by female members of the Liberal Party, which pressured Morrison to take steps to improve the government’s workplace culture.
Last year, a former Liberal Party official accused then-immigration minister Alan Tudge of inappropriate behavior, which he denies.
In his statement, Higgins asked Parliament to establish an independent reporting mechanism through which complaints can be made confidentially.
“Finally, everyone should feel safe to report sexual attacks without fear of losing their jobs. These incidents should not have appeared in the media for the change to happen, ”she said.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Hilary Whiteman.