Readers are advised that this post discusses sexual assault and suicide.Former Liberal staffer, Brit

Readers are advised that this post discusses sexual assault and suicide.Former Liberal staffer, Brittany Higgins, has called for a review of staffer laws after saying she was raped by a colleague in the office of then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds back in 2019.Scott Morrison has responded to the distressing news with an apology and called for a review of the complaints process. He’s also called on Celia Hammond, a Liberal backbencher, to review cultural problems around the treatment of women.“We have to do more, whether it’s in this workplace or any other workplace in the country, to ensure that people can work safely in their place and be at their best and do what they went into that job to do,” said Morrison.“I unreservedly apologise to Brittany Higgins”, said Senator Reynolds. “The fact that she felt unsupported in her time working here was also very, very clear for us all to see, and for that, I apologise. At the time, I truly believed that I and my chief of staff were doing everything we could to support that young woman, who I had responsibility for.”Reynolds had discussed the assault with Higgins in her office and claims she was unaware that it was the very room where it had happened.Higgins said she was given the option of working in WA during the election, or going home to the Gold Coast. She says it was clear to her that if she went home her job would not be waiting for her when the election was over - a claim Reynolds denies.She went to WA to keep what she described as her dream job. Unfortunately working 7 days and staying in hotels was lonely and she said she was suicidal at the time. She has since resigned.“There is a strange culture of silence in the parties … The idea of speaking out on these sorts of issues, especially around an [election] campaign, is just like letting the team down, you are not a team player,” said Higgins.She has decided to proceed with a police investigation into the assault and start a formal complaint with the Department of Finance, which handles work complaints from ministerial staffers. -- source link

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