The appalling parliamentary rape scandal continues to shock today. The Australian:
A parliamentary inquiry has secretly been looking into rape allegations in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds after security guards raised concerns about the handling of the matter.
Senators were told in confidential submissions that reports about the March 23, 2019, incident filed by the parliament guards were changed to remove details and soften graphic language describing how Senator Reynolds’s former adviser Brittany Higgins was found.
Several Coalition and Labor senators have known for months about the allegations — made public by Ms Higgins on Monday — and the possibility that the Department of Parliamentary Services destroyed significant evidence by immediately steam-cleaning the office, a claim first reported by news.com.au. The inquiry into the DPS, which has received 17 confidential submissions from current and former staff members, was also told that senior departmental officers were quick to take control in the hours after the alleged rape.
…Senator Reynolds on Tuesday issued Ms Higgins an unqualified apology for her handling of the matter, but questions remain around whether the minister told others about the incident.
Scott Morrison is standing by Senator Reynolds, saying he was made aware of the sexual assault allegations only on Monday morning after it became public.
The Prime Minister said he was unhappy that he had not been told by Senator Reynolds for nearly two years, but said she was only trying to protect Ms Higgins’s privacy. His staff, he said, were informed about those specific allegations only on Friday.
Mr Morrison has asked West Australian Liberal MP Celia Hammond, the former vice-chancellor of Notre Dame University in Perth, to look into the culture within the Coalition, while Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet deputy secretary Stephanie Foster will review the process of making workplace complaints.
There remain further questions about what Mr Morrison’s staff knew about the allegations, with several senior advisers told about the security breach in Senator Reynolds’s office within weeks of its occurrence.
“That statement becomes even less credible when you remember that the person who was the Minister for Defence’s chief of staff at the time of the incident, at the time of the alleged rape, was someone who had previously worked for the Prime Minister and subsequently returned to work with the Prime Minister,” Senator Wong said.
“And finally, we know from Ms Higgins’s own words that a person who she has described as the PM’s ‘fixer’, I think his principal adviser, was involved shortly after the alleged rape and in fact even called her again in the week that Four Corners aired its program exposing sexual misconduct inside the government … those facts, along with I think the commonsense view, do make it very difficult for Australians to believe that the Prime Minister knew nothing.”
Not much “thinking like a father there”. Former PM Malcolm Turnbull slams ScoMo:
Reynolds has to go. ScoMo may have to as well.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
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Not surprising to read any of that but oh so depressing.
Beetoota is all over it, this is just a sample
https://m.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/dutton-takes-basic-math-refresher-course-as-pm-fails-to-market-himself-out-of-latest-scandal/
And scoMo didnt know until this week?
Even if ScoMo demonstrates the infinite elasticity of his credulity with his religious affiliations, he cannot believe that we are likewise endowed with no BS detector?
I used to occasionally laugh when Sgt Schultz repeated his catchphrase ” I know nothing ” but when his look alike Prime Minister does it, I nearly cry.
Does that question really need answering?
There’s no way he didn’t know. He’s the laziest PM ever but he can only be that way by knowing everything that’s going on. Ignorant lazy PMs…*waves at our Tony*…sometimes accidentally do something. Not this cvnt. He gets away with doing nothing by having all angles covered.
He knew.
True.
Turnbull sat in the PMs seat, so he would know if the PM would be advised – and he’s called it “incredible” for Scotty not to know.
Morrison has tried to cover it up and that’s despicable.
Despicable sums up the happy clappy. Remember his creed supposedly says if you are in strife, you deserve to be – ego his attitude to JobSeeker back to poverty levels.
Moderation!!
There’s no way he didn’t know. He’s the laziest PM ever but he can only be that way by knowing everything that’s going on. Ignorant lazy PMs…*waves at our Tony*…sometimes accidentally do something. Not this c#nt. He gets away with doing nothing by having all angles covered.
He knew.
+1
he’ll just psychopath his way out of it
Exactly. He’s not going anywhere.
ScoMo? Nah. He will just ignore it and stop talking about it until we all forget.
Just like with Gladys Berejiklian.
A few months later, it’ll be like it never happened.
I would have thought he be preparing some solid victim blaming statements – queing solid mysyogonistic repartee 1, 2, 3 …
Scummo might even finish with: “How good is rape……?” [two thumbs up from Scummo]
He already did that in parliament yesterday. Said her recollection may not be correct. Also talked about the “position she found herself in”.
They’re going to go after her.
That’s even lower than the cover up.
Next he’ll share an anecdote about the “girls are asking for it down in the Shire”.
If they do, they’ll lose 80% of the LNP female vote, and a huge chunk of the male.
They just couldn’t be that dumb. Could they?
They go after everyone that threatens them. They’ve already gone after her. They can’t back down now because the rot runs deep.
Within a week the MSM will be running the “sordid details” of her private life.
Have you noticed that when ever there’s a scandal with the LNP, it’s always a woman that gets fired?
Scummo: “How good are women scape goats……?” [two thumbs up from Scummo]
Oh please. What BS. You want to stop damaging Labor? Quit the extreme wokeism. Most voters find it toxic.
You know the alleged perpetrator is gone yeah?
Will you say “I told you so” when it’s Reynolds?
Your RWNJ extremism is boring Totes.
The fact that the rapist is gone doesn’t stop him from being a rapist.
And I don’t have to say “I told you so” when you have already have already acknowledge what is going to happen.
Oh wow. I didn’t realise you were talking about, and thought Reynolds should stay. lol. Because she’s a woman she should stay? You’re off the charts.
Keep it up. You do far more damage to Labor than I ever could.
BTW, I’m of the left. The old left, the left who are suffering because of people like you handing us perpetual LNP.
“is gone” is a reference to what you had said “that it’s always a woman”
What happens after that with police etc is another matter.
You’re being a bit hysterical aren’t you?
Totes: observation based on data isn’t woke, bloke.
Let’s compile a list of all the men who’ve been fired as a result of this type of behaviour, and then the women who’ve lost their careers.
You can add in sports grants and so on too.
I had a list below. Mostly ladies copping it. That’s not woke, bloke, it’s facts.
Fair enough Swampy, but in this case, he is gone, and it’d seem to me the next in line should be Reynolds.
Bubbley was dancing around that not being the way it should go. Absolutely Morrison should go, but Reyolds more so IMO.
I couldn’t care less who goes, in fact I hope the whole party is reset. I just bit at a woke comment, and probably shouldn’t have especially while the subject is this sensitive.
If it wasn’t Wilkinson (who fires me up) doing the interview I probably would have cried. Poor kid, I really felt sorry for her. I hope she comes out of it relatively okay.
Should Reynolds go? Hell yes.
But scomo and co covered it up. They are actively protecting a rapist for their own benefit and should go to.
But they will form a cadre of self protection and should be fired for it.
Actually…does this make Scott Morrison an accessory to a crime? Or abuse of office?
For there to be a rapist, it first has to be established that there is indeed in fact a rapist.
“Actually…does this make Scott Morrison an accessory to a crime? Or abuse of office?”
In my view, I have already said a number of people seem to me have committed a crime and should be criminally investigated.
I too noticed the absence of “alleged” there, Backdoor Ben.
Bubbley’s just a bit too hysterical today.
I love Tote’s old world charm: “You know the alleged perpetrator is gone yeah?” It seems that quietly letting a chap go is more than adequate punishment for when a touch of horseplay gets out of hand.
triage
I even clarified the meaning of that comment, ….“is gone” is a reference to what you had said…. “that it’s always a woman”…., you fking idiot. That is beyond bellow the belt. Even for you.
@totes – they could be this dumb and … evil.
Meanwhile, the RWNJs at 2GB are calling for Jodie Mackay to resign as NSW ALP leader for a relatively minor indiscretion. But not a word on Reynolds or ScoMo.
Plus I haven’t heard anything of what happened to the alleged rapist. Where is he now?
Also, good to see Turnbull call bullsh1t on the PMs office bit knowing about it.
Absolutely no good comes from listening to 2GB.
Harsh on Leith!
It is a good neutraliser, when used in carefully measured amounts, to the heightened woke of the ABC.
I’m guessing that they let Guilty Gladys go through to the keeper
Ah yes – LNP radio on the McKay case and likewise possibly Sky after Dark? R.pe is not newsworthy?
Betcha they were going to sit on this until the next state election but the fear of a headline saying “MORRISON HIDES RAPE” made it imperative to release now.
McKay has already brushed it off anyway. Scummo still endorses rape.
A core LNP promise?
meanwhile the alleged rapist scores a directorship. SloMo has to go.
Link?
Emma Hussar was hounded out of politics while the PM’s office runs a rapist protection racket.
Scott Morrison is saying “Rape in the workplace is ok”
If it’s approved in Canberra, no woman in this country is now safe when she goes to work.
https://twitter.com/mick_minion/status/1361251058635345922
Thanks.
Dunno about this quote from scomo either
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9267325/Karl-Stefanovic-clashes-senator-fiery-Today-interview.html
Alleged episode on March 23 2019. Federal election a couple of months later coupled with the general level of sociopathy amongst our political class enables one to join the dots.
Go Karl.
Doesn’t Canavan have a daughter? By Scummo’s logic he should be calling out Reynolds for hiding rape.
My God he deserves a baseball bat.
Canavan seems very accomplished at defending the indefensible?
This is all very sad, I hope the victim is ok.
Spud Reynolds has to go.
I hope superspreader on Twitter releases the emails she claims to have
can’t fire Reynolds ‘cos she’s a woman.
Cool story bro
Dutton
Tudge
Porter
Colbeck
Joyce
List goes on
Meanwhile McKenzie maybe scapegoated (certainly responsible in some fashion but kidding if she was the only one)
Vic Health minister and no one else gone?
Your comment might fit your world view but doesn’t fit the observations
Are you kidding Losi?
The LNP ONLY sacks women. Look at that list above, none of them got sacked when they should have.
Reynolds must have missed the empathy training course (taxpayer-funded, of course), albeit it was money wasted on SFM.
Oh that Scott Morrison – a rapist never had a better friend.
He first found out on February 12 or was it April 5?
https://twitter.com/RonniSalt/status/1361563161942364167
Who has gone under SFM’s reign? Bridget the fall girl, but she’ll be back soon enough.
Accountability in this LNP gubmint is non-existent.
Accountability in any government is virtually non-existent.
Unless someone is being knifed internally and thrown under the bus for other reasons.
I watched that 1990’s nostalgia movie “Rising Sun” with Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes a few weeks ago. This has a very similar vibe.
How the f$*% someone gets raped in our National Parliament and it is not global news is amazing.
Has there ever been a bigger bunch of psychopaths than this mob ?. You see better behaviour in a tinpot dictatorship.
The news is not a cataloging of what has happened but a small subset that is carefully selected for consumption by the public.
That selection is the most powerful tool there is.
Take a look at all the main online mastheads: news.com.au; smh.com.au; abc.net.au – and see how far you have to scroll to find this story. It’s buried even deeper on the Guardian website!
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/brittany-higgins-security-guards-unlocked-office-for-alleged-parliament-rapist/news-story/82af353f178c9f6a9b271910aafa35e4
The former director of security operations at Parliament House quit his job in the wake of the “tragic” alleged rape of Brittany Higgins after raising concerns over how the matter was handled.
News.com.au understands that Peter Butler, a former sworn New South Wales Special Constable through his work with transit police and in the NSW Sheriff’s office, has raised concerns over the March 23, 2019 incident for years.
A secret parliamentary inquiry into security at Parliament House has spent months canvassing how the alleged rape was handled, receiving confidential submissions from former and current security guards.
Security officers who are aware of the circumstances on the night of the alleged rape have told news.com.au that they checked on Ms Higgins’ welfare in the early morning of March 23, 2019 for two reasons.
The first reason is stunning. On the night in question, they say the male staffer who took an intoxicated Ms Higgins to Parliament House did not have a key to the office.
Jesus faaarking christ! What a cesspit.
This has some mileage yet
I am constantly amazed at how low this LNP government will go. Just filth and scum to the core.
I am sure Labour are no better though.
I suspect that they have some decency, of which the LNP is totally devoid.
And if they hadn’t used private security guards it would never have got out.
I was actually being serious with that last comment, going by the AFP’s previous.
I think the last AFP officer to investigate the wrong people was probably Colin Winchester…. and look what hapenned to him…
Assassinated in 1989 shot twice in head with a Ruger 10/22 .22-calibre semi-automatic rifle
This incident is child’s play for them to get away with. You’ve seen what they’ve got away with and getting only a slab on the wrist right?
A rape in Australias Parliament lol.
The ‘I’ve got daughters deflection’
Worked a treat during the Qatar airways incident,
So no surprises he gave it a go
He’s got his go.
It worked for Gladys…..”she’s can’t help who she fell in love with”
We let it work.
It’s time for Australians to demand more integrity and accountability. Gladys should have gone, Reynolds and Morrison absolutely have to go, along with numerous criminal investigations re numerous people.
Rollcall
Tudge and Porter – just toxic, Ministerial Code
Dutton – grants
Colbeck – incompetent
Reynolds – incompetent, Ministerial Code
Add you own
Crikey! and The Monthly have both recently done detailed articles on the scandals of this government. Both links are behind paywalls though.
McKenzies – Rorts
Taylor – WaterRorts, Sydney Mayor, Land Clearing
Fraudenburg – JobRorter
Morrison – Social Services – Robodebt
Morrison when treasurer – Robodebt
Morrison when PM – Robodebt
theres more ..
Stuart Robert – Rolex, home internet.
Super for housing Tudge. Just doesn’t pass any pub test but to boost house prices, i direct conflict with the poor suckers he’s dragging into it.
Anyone that doesn’t meet a community standard, (and left/right just shouldn’t come into it), it’s about integrity and fixing our country, should go. Absolutely not get our vote, and harm the party if they stay.
Gillard should have been run out of town after reneging on her promise to Wilkie. I could go all day calling out the complete lack of standards from both sides.
We smashed the Democrats for giving us the GST. That should be standard practice if we ever want better government.
[email protected] for not holding the government over a barrel with immigration. She’s had the opportunity numerous times.
Don’t forget #shadysukkar for allegedly misusing tax payer money, endorsing branch stacking and breaching the ministerial code of conduct.
Add you own
It would probably be quicker and easier to list the LNP members who aren’t clearly terrible people.
A list of zero is not a list
I’m seriously struggling…
Can’t think of any in the Nats either.
Fck me. There is so much to be disgusted about. One thing that really gets me though is that these clowns thought the appropriate course of action was to launch a senate inquiry rather than referring it to the appropriate authorities for investigation. It’s a phrase we toss around a lot, but these people literally think they’re above the law. That is very dangerous.
“but these people literally think they’re above the law. That is very dangerous.”
2 years and no likely future consequences say they are right…
The law is a much more flexible and ambiguous thing than most people like to think.
For the powerful.
For everyone.
The powerful are just much better at exploiting it.
And also much less likely to believe dogmatically that “the law is the law”
My call on this is that nothing will happen, except some kabuki theatre. Reynolds must have know from the start and I do not believe Morrison didn’t. So Morrison hits Reynolds with a wet lettuce leaf as discipline and he maintains his Sargent Schultz schtick of “I know nuffink!”. He can’t do anymore as he surely knew about it.
I haven’t read too much about this, but saw the interview with Wilkinson.
Reynolds won’t stay, it’s just too damaging IMO. Morrison should absolutely go too. If he doesn’t, LNP will be rightly punished IMO.
It’s way passed time we stopped putting up with this BS.
I like your hope, but I don’t share it.
This isn’t bad enough for voters to punish Morrison by proxy through their local LNP candidates.
Not yet.
Unless the fourth estate can pin something on Scrotum.
Grattan mysteriously tweeted Reynolds under the bus, so that implies The Scrote knew more sooner, and some journos are being briefed (I think).
That was about Scummo chiding Reynolds in parliament for not bringing the rape to his attention at the time.
Also note Gratten said nothing about Scummo attacking the girls credibility. That’s where the future headlines are going to be coming from.
Unless the fourth estate
canwants to pin something on Scrotum.Fixed that for you. 😉
– We all know what happened with Barnaby Joyce, right ??
Did Barnaby get raped?
In the farmyard or in parlament house?
Either way do tell?
By Gina. Gina owns him.
By Gina with a Strapon in the National party office. There’s enough scandals to release a Cluedo: Liberal sex crime edition.
Barnaby got away with it.
ScoMo is just a self-serving sociopath – like Trump only with middle-class social skills. You would hope that female voters will make it clear the ScoMo brand is now so toxic the Coalition will have to dump him before the next election. The problem for the Coalition is that they are all a bunch of self-serving sociopaths.
Anyone who only has contact with MSM would think Scotty is a lovely family man who walks on water 🙁
The reality is only found elsewhere – thanks MB, Crikey, P&I, IA, MW, etc.
Despite the noise from the LNP female side of things, I suspect it won’t shake too many from the loose caboose.
I’m definitely not a fun of Scummo or most of the coalition, but unpopular opinion:
Why did she stay quiet for two years until being given the flick?
Why only now go to the police?
Could it be that she just regretted slutting it up while on the piss?
Was she using it to try and further her position?
Many such cases… sad!
Morrison is already going after her. Imagine how much pressure was put on her just weeks before an election. She’s got guts to come out now knowing they will do everything they can to destroy her.
This behaviour by the LNP is the same as Scummo’s cult protecting paedos in their midst. There’s no evil these bastards won’t do.
“Why did she stay quiet for two years until being given the flick?
Why only now go to the police?”
Because promises were made, that they failed to deliver on and gave her the flick.
I’m not saying it’s a good reason but it’s the most likely one.
Ignore the hard left commenters, their overdeveloped sense of empathy blinds their reason. Let’s call a spade a spade. She’s a wannabe liberal politician, just look at all the photos of her posing with various liberal elite. She clearly comes from money and a liberal staffer by 22? I’m sure it was her stellar resume *cough*. Not to mention, the election was a higher priority for her over coming forward with these serious accusations.
Here is what happened: she attends a function business elites use to wine and dine our political class. She has too much to drink and ends up sleeping with a colleague in a parliament office.
The next morning security finds her and now she’s in trouble. The security breach will be the end of her “career” and she knows it. She has to think quick. I know, we throw the bloke under the bus and claim rape!
And clearly it was such a traumatic experience as she was willing to stay silent in exchange for perks and career advancement. I can’t think of why else she would go with him alone, to a secluded area, to do.. what exactly? Hang out in a ministers office?
The rest of it is your typical political coverup. They knew. All of them. Probably people in the media as well. From the phone calls to the immediate cleaning of the room and the lack of any police involvement.
Her story and actions make little sense until you consider self interest. In that regard she has the makings of a true liberal member.
Looks like victim shaming is a thing today.
In order to do that, you need to know that the person actually is a victim.
Bingo. She’s a whore, just like all of the #MeToo whores in Hollywood who were happy to go along with it and keep their mouths shut for years just so long as it got them what they wanted.
And how does anyone know for sure that she’s telling the truth? Is this another Justice Kavanagh-style #BelieveAllWomen stitch-up?
This sh!t take is part of the problem. Get fvcked bloke!
True that.
Totes. What a prick of a comment
Morrison encouraged his fixer to cover it up, keep her quiet and make it go away
The catalyst was apparently seeing Scotty at a photo op with an Australian of the year who was the victim of abuse.
The hypocrisy was too much and she understandably went public with it.
Scotty hid her rape but promotes that he is protector of victims. F#cking liar
And Bloke “slutting it up on the piss”
“Advancing her position”
You seriously went with that misogynistic bullsh!t?
Is any bloke who gets drunk slutting it up and trying to get a raise? Is a bloke asking to get physically assaulted a work function?
Would you even SAY that about a guy? No, you would not.
You’re normally better than this.
Loving what you’re bringing today Bubbley
Yeah, lunch today came with a side order of hellfire and sulphur.
Misogynistic? LOL. No, I simply don’t #BelieveAllWomen. Rape is serious stuff… why didn’t she go to the police?
And if it was a bloke I’d be saying exactly the same thing, and I suspect the pinkos would be as well.
She wasn’t given the flick, she quit.
“bUT Why dIDnT sHE cOmE fORWarD sOoNEr ?”
Because of people like you.
Alright I’ll bite.
Could you lay out for us how a rape victim should behave in the hours, days, weeks, months after an assault? When should they go to the police? When should they tell their boss if it happened at work? Should they go ahead with the complaint or not? So many questions for your smooth brain to answer.
Pretty sure “Bloke” and his mates are the kind of people who think rape only happened if the victim ended up in hospital or the morgue.
‘I’ve got daughters – script’
It took me straight back to Hawkeys’ speech when he broke down while speaking about his daughter’s substance addiction. At least Hawke was genuine. And I know that for a fact. At the time, my flatmate was going out with the other daughter. We used to talk a lot. I would say it’s very possible Morrison’s spin-team cooked up the scene; trying to replicate Hawkes’ scenario. Which, BTW, greatly helped his public image. Morrison’s acting attempt, however, was absolute shite. He hasn’t got enough empathy to squeeze out just one genuine tear.
But Hawkie didn’t go into bat for his daughter who was raped by her boss who was a powerful politician who Hawkie needed.
It was the same daughter and the tears were for both issues – and likely more. That’s as far as I’m going to take this one, bolstrood, other than to say I am not a fanboy of Bob Hawke. His family suffered and so did he.
Rape in parliament is a metaphor for what the LNP is doing to the country.
+AAA
+1,000 They use the euphemism: gubmint. Makes it sound so decent?
Morrison’s going to need industrial strength reputation cleanser.
https://twitter.com/vanOnselenP/status/1361896206146805762
Brittany Higgins has released a statement which includes this: “The continued victim-blaming rhetoric by the Prime Minister is personally very distressing to me and countless other survivors.”
Anyone got a stack of bibles for SFM to swear on?
I love all this “there’ll be hell to pay” bullshit…………
No one gives a flying F##k anymore; politicians ceased being accountable many years ago when they made us rich with debt so we’d turn a blind eye
We have corrupt criminals in the halls of power and they keep going as there is no consequence. Scummo is an Olympian calibre c%%t but nothing sticks because we don’t care for long enough for it to matter
If he dropkicked a baby from the lawns of parliament house tomorrow morning he’d still have his job by the evening; hunker down, cop the initial flak and then spin, spin, spin and that’s all you need to do these days. Like the first hit up in a footy game; shoulder in, take the hit and as long as you don’t get totally munted, you get up and play on.
Once upon a time when politicians had integrity they fell on their sword but now they just spin their way out by paying lip service, attempting distraction or character assassination of victims
Says it all about what kind of society we have become