Bridget McKenzie (Victoria, National Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Gallagher. Minister, in your statement to the Senate on Tuesday, and repeatedly since that time, you've acknowledged you received information about Ms Higgins's sexual assault allegations but did nothing with that information—absolutely nothing—in advance of it being made public. But on Tuesday you couldn't, or wouldn't, answer questions about whether you provided feedback on The Project interview, as has been widely reported. You've refused to explain whether you provided questions to Mr Sharaz, as his text messages suggest. You've avoided answering whether you communicated with any other person about questions to ask the former government. Minister, there are very straightforward answers to these questions. If it's true that you did nothing with the information, why can't you answer basic factual questions about your involvement in this matter?