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If you’re a woman in Parliament House, nobody hears you scream

Over the last few days, no less than five federal government ministers have publicly stated their support for Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s claims that he knew nothing about the 2019 alleged rape committed just metres from his office and reported by former media staffer Brittany Higgins, until February 2021.

Mr Morrison also claims his staff in the Prime Minister’s Office were unaware of the alleged crime.

The precariousness nature of Mr Morrison’s claims is addressed in this piece written by me for Independent Australia. Former Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd have stated their incredulity that such a serious incident could take place in Parliament House without the Prime Minister’s Office being made aware of it immediately.

The Ministers who have supported Morrison’s claims to ignorance are:

Lynda Reynolds, Minister for Defence.

Marise Payne, Minister for Women.

Anne Ruston, Minister for Families and Social Services

Michaelia Cash, Minister for Employment, Skills Small and Family Business

Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs

President of the Senate, Scott Ryan, has admitted being told of a “serious incident” in 2019, and claims he made no further inquiries as to what that incident was.

The Speaker of the House, Tony Smith, has admitted to being told of a “serious incident” in 2019, and claims he made no further inquiries as to what that incident was.

All the above are conspiring to conceal the full circumstances of a serious crime committed in their workplace.

This week, former Liberal Staffer Chelsea Potter claimed she was sexually assaulted when working in the office of Senator Simon Birmingham, Minister for Finance. Birmingham refused to assist her.

Also this week, Ruby O’Rourke claimed that in 2016 she was “continually assaulted by a well-know politician.” Ms O’Rourke says she has named Greg Hunt, Minister for Health and Aged Care, because he knows.

 

 

In November 2020, Four Corners aired a program titled Inside the Canberra Bubble. The Morrison government went to great lengths to try to prevent the program going to air, and then threatened the ABC to the extent that the broadcaster’s Chair, Ita Buttrose, publicly defended the program.

Alan Tudge, Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure, who campaigned on family values, was revealed to have had an extra marital affair with staffer, Rachelle Miller, who has now lodged formal complaints of bullying against him, and against Michaelia Cash.

Attorney-General Christian Porter was alleged in the program to have a history of sleazy sexist behaviour towards women. Porter immediately announced he was taking legal action against Four Corners. However, we have heard nothing further about any such action.

The number of Morrison’s ministers involved in allegations of sexual harassment and the concealment of sexual violence against women in their workplace is astounding.

The message to women working in Parliament House is clear. No minister will support you.

At time of writing Linda Reynolds, who was due to appear at the National Press Club today, has been admitted to hospital. Reynolds was expected to come under intense scrutiny at the Press Club today over her management of the Higgins rape allegations. 

The alleged rapist is also in hospital.

 

This article was originally published on No Place For Sheep.

 

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10 comments

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  1. Bronte D G ALLAN

    What a lying bunch of sleaze bags ALL the COALition is! This women first claimed she was raped when it was far to difficult for the LNP as it was just prior to the elections! WE hear now that Slo Mo had not been “advised” (nor his office, apparently), about any rape allegations until very recently What a lying bunch of sleaze bags they are-again! Sadly, this mob of liars & toe rags could never tell the truth if their life depended on it & they would all like the office person who made the complaint to just go away–forget about any legal & moral issues–just sweep it all under the Parliament house rug! BASTARDS!! The lot of them! Great & true article, Dr Wilson.

  2. Phil Pryor

    An unknown but enterprising Liberal staffer has shown his version of initiative and enterprise in getting a freebie, abusing parliamentary security setups and perfecting his evil approaches to all this. This shows a keen appreciation of what the conservatives stand for because exerting freedom to do what one bloody well likes is a core position. The aforesaid person, Mr. Woomhole Willywiper (not his real name for privacy) can now rely on the P M, Mr. R. Swipe, to studiously avoid awareness, so as to assert in future an unawareness. Easy. One may wonder why people, especially women, (a rare form) support conservative selfishness; it must be a yearning for subservience, dogmatic “leadership”, aligning with mastery and other post Freudian possibilities. May some good come out of this, but, the extermination of the conservative pox is beyond a vaccine. Selfishness, greed, ego, the now, the me, all will live on…

  3. Pete Petrass

    And so the cover-up continues.
    First we have Morriscum and his band of incompetents going full bore on their deniability.
    Then we have the rapist getting his online digital footprint professionally “cleaned” before self admitting to hospital to hide from the press and everyone else. I read that it is nigh on impossible for anyone to delete all traces of themselves online, even from related posts/articles that would appear via Google.
    Then after Ms Higgins removes all privacy shackles (and thus the “it is not my story to tell” defence), we have Reynolds today heading off to hospital and indefinite sick leave (for a convenient pre-existing condition although the only known condition she has is abject incompetence) so she now does not have to attend the NPC or parliament or face the press where she would actually now have to answer questions.
    Then despite AFP guidlines specifically stating Dutton is to be advised of any “sensitive political issues” we hear he knew nothing either. But oddly, or conveniently, the AFP presciently decided to inform him of the rape on 11 Feb, the Day prior to Samantha Maiden publishing the story.
    Am I the only one that thinks it is rather strange that 4 females (Reynolds, Payne, Cash and Ruston) are publicly supporting Morriscum’s story about knowing nothing about nothing???

  4. Henry Rodrigues

    The Lib women are just nasty as or worse, than the men, in their abject subservience to their male masters in this party of liars, crooks and shonks. Unfortunately innocent staffers get caught up in their evil deeds and are then made to pay a heavy price in pain and suffering in silence.

    So I am glad that Brittany Higgins has decided to take them on. More power to her and the other victims of the Liberal party power structure.

  5. Andrew J. Smith

    Many of the women who become the ‘objects’ of male MPs and subjected to behaviour that should have disappeared generations ago, along with many female conservative MPs, claim to be naive and/or shocked?

    Most would come from rusted on conservative families, be insiders e.g. introduced by existing MP assistants/advisors or are simply ambitious; dealing with the devil of misogyny and patriarchy, especially when the LNP female elders have nothing to say?

    Courageous on behalf of the LNP to be mute on this issue, considering the victims, plus their families, friends and networks, are inside the LNP tent?

    Get ready for a NewsCorp, 9Fairfax or 7West campaign (in addition to the attempt of shaking down BigTech) to disappear govt. MPs, again, create ‘noise’ and focus upon Labor, or wheel out e.g. Jordan Petersen or Bettina Arndt, claiming men are victims of women’s rights, censorship etc.?

  6. OnceWasALiberal

    I’m as astounded as Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd that the prime minister denies knowledge of this matter. It is inconceivable that he was not informed, and more likely, given his strong propensity to prevaricate, that his denials are due to selective memory.

  7. Henry Rodrigues

    Dutton has now declared, according to a report in the Guardian, that he deliberately chose not to inform the PM about this allegation of which he was informed about 3 days earlier.

    Really ?? Dutton falling on his sword ?? Circling the wagons ?? More like “Protect Scummo at all costs”. Murdoch has delivered his instructions and so be it. After all Scummo can’t be put under interrogation, and then suddenly get a doctor’s certificate to take rest away from official duties, like Ms Reynolds has done. There revealed before us is the party of liars, dickheads, and shonks.

    As for those coalition voters and supporters, are they really satisfied that they made the right choices at the last elections.

  8. paul walter

    Very puzzling at the responses of panellists on the Drum this evening.

    Fanning had to work really hard to get a response from female panellists as to the significant news that Dutton had held back information concerning the incident and its further investigation from Morrison, and thought Dutton’s response that briefing the PM would have some how compromised the case was pitiful.
    Imagine my shock when Shane Wright, of all people, took the issue head on after much humming and hawing from the rest. Wright also brought up the interesting point that cleaning the suite immediately likely interfered with evidence at the site and represented a possible offence.

    Then there is Reynolds. Heading off to rehab smacks of doing a Morrison and disappearing when uncomfortable questions might be being asked. The government must be really at its wits end to employ this sorry arsed ploy for sympathy while ducking the truth and the attempt to deflect blame onto others over Reynolds’ ” condition” was a true rock bottom. They must really be having trouble with this issue despite the press soft pedalling on reportage and comment involving it all. Paramount, the question ducked as to the Civil Servant’s cessation of employment.

    Why did Reynolds not immediately call in the authorities to check out the allegation when she heard it, for the sake of Higgins, who needed her privacy guarded. Many others have suggested, the correct course would have been to have the police in immediately the thing was reported, with a safe location within which to interview Higgins by herself if she so desired, to find out what was troubling her and if she needed the thing to be proceeded with further.
    The idea of an attack dog like Michaelia Cash or the like in on an interview. by contrast, would fill this writer with horror- no wonder the poor lass was unwilling to go further, the truth came out eventually as to pressure when the story broke as to that.

    And of course, all the other incidents involving others and the furtive casual incidents revealing crass contempt, that ignored those various complaints.

  9. Michael Taylor

    Henry, very odd of Dutton to withhold the information.

    If the rapist had have been one of the refugees in a detention centre he would have raced immediately to Morrison, the Murdoch Media and 2GB quicker than the blink of an eye.

  10. Kronomex

    Duttonuci still has orgasm…er, dreams, of removing Saint Scotty of the Marketing and taking over the big job and this was just another attempt at putting the boot into him..

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