Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday Brittany Higgins issued a statement in response to the Prime Minister's remarks. In that statement, Ms Higgins said:

The continued victim-blaming rhetoric by the prime minister is personally very distressing to me and to countless other survivors.

How does the Prime Minister respond to Ms Higgins's statement from yesterday?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The last thing I would want is to add any further distress to what Brittany is already going through. and I am doing everything I can to ensure that that is not the case in how we seek to handle these issues. I'm very sorry she feels that way. I know she must be under tremendous stress over the course of this week. She has shown great courage and great bravery in speaking up over these matters. I've been listening to what she's been saying. I'm seeking to put in place arrangements for the support of staff who are in this building here and now and will be feeling, I think, increasingly fragile and vulnerable because of the nature of these events that have arisen this week. The best way I can address those comments, I think, is to ensure that I'm doing everything within my power to try and make this a safer place.