Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister tabled a report undertaken by his chief of staff into whether staff in his office had backgrounded against Ms Higgins's loved ones. Contrary to the Prime Minister's assertions that the report found in the negative, it in fact found that the evidence available fell short of what would be required to determine what happened one way or the other. To be clear, the Prime Minister's right-hand man did not find that the backgrounding didn't happen; he just didn't find that it did. As the chief of staff would well know, journalists, particularly at the moment, will not give up their sources, especially given the vindictiveness of this government.

The report itself is a masterclass in political smear, deliberately repeating what was said about Ms Higgins's partner and even suggesting that it was the fault of journalists. Ms Higgins was not told that the report was to be released. She was not told what it would contain, nor that it would directly quote her, and she was certainly not given the courtesy of been provided with a copy beforehand.

For the Prime Minister and for those senior people in his office who have been involved in this sorry episode to seek to discredit an alleged rape victim by smearing her partner is despicable. There is no justification for it. It bridges every ethical and moral code. Prime Minister, I do hope, when you reflect some time upon this and what you've done to this brave young woman, you understand how badly you've let all of us down. (Time expired)