Australian PM promises probe after rape allegation

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised on Tuesday to a woman who alleged she was raped in the country’s parliament by an unnamed colleague, and promised a thorough investigation into the government’s workplace culture.

The woman, Brittany Higgins, did not name the colleague, but said it was someone who worked for Morrison’s ruling Liberal party and that she had been raped in the office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in March 2019.

She then spoke with the police in early April of that year but she decided against making a formal complaint amid concerns about her career prospects.

Morrison promised an investigation:

“At the end of the day, I want to make sure that any young woman working in this place is as safe as possible. Just as I would like my own daughters, if they ever chose to go down that path or in whatever workplace they were working in.”

“That should not have happened, and I do apologise. I want to make sure any young woman working in this place is as safe as possible.”

The woman said she told senior staff in Reynolds’ office of the alleged attack.

She said she was then asked to attend a meeting, in the same office where she says she was assaulted.

Reynolds on Monday confirmed she had been told of the complaint, though she denied the woman was pressured against making a police complaint.

via Reuters