Gallagher denies misleading Parliament about knowledge of Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations.

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Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has denied allegations that the Albanian government coordinated with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, to weaponize a rape allegation against Scott Morrison and the state government. then-coalition in 2021. The Australian newspaper published private text messages between Ms Higgins and Mr Sharaz which appear to show the couple alerting Labor MPs to key details of the allegation before going public with the story. Senator Gallagher and fellow Labor Senator Penny Wong had previously been accused by Ms Higgins’ former boss, Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, of using prior knowledge of the allegation to attack the Coalition. However, Senator Gallagher insisted she had been candid on the matter and flatly rejected the claim that they had chosen to weaponize the information weeks before being told.

Senator Gallagher confirmed she was aware of some details of Ms Higgins’ rape allegation, but denied misleading Parliament on the matter. She said she had been warned in advance that there would be public reports of a young woman making serious allegations about events in a minister’s office. However, she did nothing with this information and she made that clear to Senator Reynolds when she raised these concerns with the committee. Text messages published by the Australian newspaper included references from Mr Sharaz to Senator Gallagher being an old friend and being angry and wanting to help. The posts appear to show Mr Sharaz giving Senator Gallagher access to the interview Ms Higgins did with Network 10s The Project, where she outlined her allegation, before it aired.

The man at the center of the rape allegation, former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, has always maintained his innocence. No verdict against him was ever reached after the rape trial was dismissed due to juror misconduct. ACT prosecutors did not pursue a new trial in the case, saying they were concerned about the impact it would have on Ms Higgins’ mental health. Mr. Lehrmann is suing several media outlets, including ABC, for defamation.

Senator Wong also disputed suggestions that the rape allegation was weaponized and said she did not know all the details of the allegations until the story became public. She asked how the text messages entered the public domain and urged anyone commenting on this to think about doing so responsibly. Prime Minister Mr Morrison’s former senior aide Fiona Brown, who was acting as Senator Reynolds’ chief of staff at the time of the alleged rape, has accused Mr Morrison of misleading Parliament after he told Question Time he had discussed the management of matters with her. Ms Brown said she was taken aback by Ms Higgins’ decision to do an interview with The Project and felt she had been let down by Mr Morrison and members of his team.

In conclusion, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher denied allegations that the Albanian government had coordinated with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and her partner, David Sharaz, to weaponize a rape allegation against Scott Morrison and the then coalition government in 2021. She confirmed she had prior knowledge of some details of the rape allegation made by Ms Higgins, but denied misleading Parliament on the matter. Senator Wong also disputed suggestions that the rape allegation had been weaponized and asked how the text messages entered the public domain. Fiona Brown, former senior aide to Prime Minister Mr Morrison, has accused him of misleading Parliament after he said in Question Time he had discussed the handling of the case with her.

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