Post by pim on Jun 4, 2021 9:55:32 GMT 10
Brave young woman ...
This go-slow investigation by the cops has left Brittany Higgins exposed. Everyone knows her name and also, in lurid detail, about the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape. When she hasn’t been patronised by the likes of Mr Smirk & Mirrors PM, she has been traduced, vilified and slandered on social media and by the cockroaches of talkback and Sky News After Dark while the guy who allegedly raped her (and quite possibly spiked her drinks - it sounds like date rape to me but we won’t know until it comes before a court) remains anonymous. Justice delayed is justice denied, and Brittany Higgins deserves justice.
Brittany Higgins hospitalised and receiving support ‘after months of political pressure’
Partner of former Liberal staffer says Higgins is recovering ‘and receiving the support she needs’
Katharine Murphy Political Editor 4 June 2021 www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/04/brittany-higgins-hospitalised-and-receiving-support-after-months-of-political-pressure?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Brittany Higgins has been hospitalised to safeguard her mental wellbeing after months of unrelenting scrutiny following her explosive allegation that she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019.
The former Liberal staffer, who triggered a #MeToo moment in the Australian parliament, was admitted to hospital last Thursday night to address serious concerns for her welfare. Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, told Guardian Australia she was recovering “and receiving the support she needs after months of sustained political pressure”.
The hospitalisation follows a sequence of taxing events, including the tabling in parliament of a report by Scott Morrison’s chief of staff assessing whether members of the prime minister’s media office backgrounded negatively about Higgins and her partner after the rape allegation became public. There has also been a fortnight of Senate estimates hearings which have produced new revelations.
Higgins remains engaged with the Australian federal police and it will be known within weeks whether or not her sexual assault complaint will be prosecuted. The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, told a Senate committee last week that “a brief of evidence is likely to be provided to the ACT director of public prosecutions in coming weeks”. A brief of evidence is sent to prosecutors if investigators consider enough evidence has been gathered to substantiate a criminal charge.
Police at the same hearing revealed a further 19 allegations of misconduct involving parliamentarians, their staff or “official establishments” had been reported to them since the former Liberal staffer went public. Higgins has taken part in the inquiry undertaken by Morrison’s chief of staff, John Kunkel, into the alleged backgrounding about her and Sharaz, and in a preliminary way in a separate inquiry being undertaken by Phil Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Kunkel ultimately declined to make a finding that the prime minister’s office briefed against Sharaz, citing a lack of first-hand evidence and the seriousness of the allegation. Morrison’s chief of staff concluded he was “not in a position to make a finding that the alleged activity took place” but warned “the fact those allegations have been made serves as an important reminder of the need for [the prime minister’s] staff to hold themselves to the highest standards”. Sharaz, a journalist and former public servant, subsequently characterised the report by Kunkel as an exercise in “PMO staffers protecting themselves”.
The Gaetjens inquiry is an audit of communications between staff in the prime minister’s office and Higgins before February 2021, when the story of the rape allegation was broken by news.com.au. Morrison asked for the investigation because there were differing accounts about who knew what when about the sexual assault allegation. Morrison has insisted that he and his office were unaware of the rape allegation until February 2021 even though a number of senior figures in the government were aware of Higgins’ account of events.
It is unclear when Gaetjens will conclude his inquiry, although Morrison’s departmental head has signalled it will be within weeks, not months. It is also unclear whether the report Gaetjens prepares for Morrison will ever be made public. During an appearance before a Senate committee, Gaetjens was non-committal on the basis it was Morrison’s report, not his. Higgins met Morrison in late April. Morrison flagged at the end of March he would meet privately with her after she made a formal complaint to Kunkel about the alleged backgrounding, but the meeting did not take place until a month later. During the meeting, Higgins urged the prime minister to “show leadership” to deliver cultural change in the Australian parliament and protect political staffers against predatory behaviour in their workplace.
Higgins alleges she was raped by a colleague in March 2019 in the Parliament House office of her then-employer, Linda Reynolds, who held the defence industry portfolio at the time. Higgins telling her story publicly has already triggered significant responses. Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, has been asked by the government to conduct an inquiry into parliamentary workplace culture, and Morrison has flagged the establishment of an independent complaints-handling process for serious incidents at Parliament House.
The Liberal staffer alleged to have raped Higgins in 2019 did not have his employment terminated until 10 days after he left Reynolds’ office. The official termination date surfaced in answers to questions on notice supplied by the finance department after the last Senate estimates round in late March.
Partner of former Liberal staffer says Higgins is recovering ‘and receiving the support she needs’
Katharine Murphy Political Editor 4 June 2021 www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/04/brittany-higgins-hospitalised-and-receiving-support-after-months-of-political-pressure?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Brittany Higgins has been hospitalised to safeguard her mental wellbeing after months of unrelenting scrutiny following her explosive allegation that she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House in 2019.
The former Liberal staffer, who triggered a #MeToo moment in the Australian parliament, was admitted to hospital last Thursday night to address serious concerns for her welfare. Higgins’ partner, David Sharaz, told Guardian Australia she was recovering “and receiving the support she needs after months of sustained political pressure”.
The hospitalisation follows a sequence of taxing events, including the tabling in parliament of a report by Scott Morrison’s chief of staff assessing whether members of the prime minister’s media office backgrounded negatively about Higgins and her partner after the rape allegation became public. There has also been a fortnight of Senate estimates hearings which have produced new revelations.
Higgins remains engaged with the Australian federal police and it will be known within weeks whether or not her sexual assault complaint will be prosecuted. The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, told a Senate committee last week that “a brief of evidence is likely to be provided to the ACT director of public prosecutions in coming weeks”. A brief of evidence is sent to prosecutors if investigators consider enough evidence has been gathered to substantiate a criminal charge.
Police at the same hearing revealed a further 19 allegations of misconduct involving parliamentarians, their staff or “official establishments” had been reported to them since the former Liberal staffer went public. Higgins has taken part in the inquiry undertaken by Morrison’s chief of staff, John Kunkel, into the alleged backgrounding about her and Sharaz, and in a preliminary way in a separate inquiry being undertaken by Phil Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Kunkel ultimately declined to make a finding that the prime minister’s office briefed against Sharaz, citing a lack of first-hand evidence and the seriousness of the allegation. Morrison’s chief of staff concluded he was “not in a position to make a finding that the alleged activity took place” but warned “the fact those allegations have been made serves as an important reminder of the need for [the prime minister’s] staff to hold themselves to the highest standards”. Sharaz, a journalist and former public servant, subsequently characterised the report by Kunkel as an exercise in “PMO staffers protecting themselves”.
The Gaetjens inquiry is an audit of communications between staff in the prime minister’s office and Higgins before February 2021, when the story of the rape allegation was broken by news.com.au. Morrison asked for the investigation because there were differing accounts about who knew what when about the sexual assault allegation. Morrison has insisted that he and his office were unaware of the rape allegation until February 2021 even though a number of senior figures in the government were aware of Higgins’ account of events.
It is unclear when Gaetjens will conclude his inquiry, although Morrison’s departmental head has signalled it will be within weeks, not months. It is also unclear whether the report Gaetjens prepares for Morrison will ever be made public. During an appearance before a Senate committee, Gaetjens was non-committal on the basis it was Morrison’s report, not his. Higgins met Morrison in late April. Morrison flagged at the end of March he would meet privately with her after she made a formal complaint to Kunkel about the alleged backgrounding, but the meeting did not take place until a month later. During the meeting, Higgins urged the prime minister to “show leadership” to deliver cultural change in the Australian parliament and protect political staffers against predatory behaviour in their workplace.
Higgins alleges she was raped by a colleague in March 2019 in the Parliament House office of her then-employer, Linda Reynolds, who held the defence industry portfolio at the time. Higgins telling her story publicly has already triggered significant responses. Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, has been asked by the government to conduct an inquiry into parliamentary workplace culture, and Morrison has flagged the establishment of an independent complaints-handling process for serious incidents at Parliament House.
The Liberal staffer alleged to have raped Higgins in 2019 did not have his employment terminated until 10 days after he left Reynolds’ office. The official termination date surfaced in answers to questions on notice supplied by the finance department after the last Senate estimates round in late March.
This go-slow investigation by the cops has left Brittany Higgins exposed. Everyone knows her name and also, in lurid detail, about the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape. When she hasn’t been patronised by the likes of Mr Smirk & Mirrors PM, she has been traduced, vilified and slandered on social media and by the cockroaches of talkback and Sky News After Dark while the guy who allegedly raped her (and quite possibly spiked her drinks - it sounds like date rape to me but we won’t know until it comes before a court) remains anonymous. Justice delayed is justice denied, and Brittany Higgins deserves justice.