Linda Reynolds (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you very much, Mr President. Thank you very much to Senate Wong for that. As I said, it was very clear to me from seeing and hearing from Brittany on the TV last night that there was a range of circumstances which compounded her trauma and her grief. No woman should ever have to go through what she has clearly been through. That trauma that comes not just in the immediate aftermath of an assault but in the many months and the many long years that follow it is what those of us in this building failed to acknowledge. However, listening to Brittany describe the depression and the trauma she experienced in that subsequent time, it is very, very clear to me that more could and should have been done to support her.

The kind of support Brittany needs has to start in a political office. It starts with her boss—in this case, with me—with her colleagues, with her friends. But it cannot end there. That is why I welcome the Prime Minister's announcement this morning that he intends to look at how we can improve the support mechanisms offered to staff and the processes around the handling of these most serious of workplace complaints. As the inquiries that the Prime Minister has announced and the AFP investigation that was opened two years ago continue, I will work with them in every way that I possibly can. We have to do better, and I'm sure we all want to do better.

In relation to the question of my second staff member: he left my office shortly after that. I sought advice from Ministerial and Parliamentary Services, who assisted me through that process, and he was terminated from my office. (Time expired)