‘A rape happened in this building’: What the Higgins finding could mean for body to punish politicians, staff
By Olivia Ireland
Minister for Women Katy Gallagher says the historic judgment which found former staffer Brittany Higgins was raped in a ministerial office at federal parliament gives even more weight to the need to create a powerful new body this year that could punish politicians and staff.
A draft structure leaked to this masthead in April revealed the potential powers of the much-delayed Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, a body that could punish MPs, senators, staffers and others in the building for serious breaches such as sexual assault, violence, harassment, bullying and discrimination.
Brittany Higgins outside the Federal Court in November last year.Credit: Kate Geraghty
The commission is meant to be established by October, three years after an independent inquiry called out parliament’s “revolting and humiliating” workplace culture following Higgins’ revelations that she had been raped in a minister’s office.
Gallagher said on Wednesday a bipartisan team of politicians charged with implementing the commission, including Coalition spokeswoman Jane Hume, Greens senator Larissa Waters and Trade Minister Don Farrell, still hope to have it enshrined in law before the end of the year.
“I think the fact that we’ve had a decision of a judge that found a rape happened in this building should give us more purpose and focus to getting that job done quickly,” Gallagher said.
“Which is, you know, where this [commission] originated from, the review into what happened in this building and what was happening towards women in particular.”
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher hopes the commission can have bipartisan support.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Gallagher’s comments come after Bruce Lehrmann lost his multimillion-dollar defamation suit last week when Federal Court Justice Michael Lee found Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson had proven the former federal Liberal staff was “indifferent” to consent and had raped his then-colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House.
The creation of the commission was recommended in former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ November 2021 report, Set the Standard, which was ordered after Higgins said she had been raped in Parliament House.
The leaked draft proposal revealed the commission would have the power to dock up to 5 per cent of misbehaving politicians’ salary or suspend them from federal parliament.
Gallagher said she was still consulting staff across parliament to come to an agreement, with the hope the legislation had bipartisan support to avoid being further delayed by long committee processes.
“I want to get it right. I’d prefer not to have a political argument about it if we can avoid it and that’s my focus,” she said.
“Staff are having some consultation sessions, I think in the next week. They won’t have the legislation but ... thankfully, it’s been leaked, so people will be able to see that.”
The leaked draft was criticised by independent senator Lidia Thorpe, who said it did not go far enough and the commission risked silencing survivors because the body would also have the power to enforce confidentiality agreements on certain cases.
On the other end of the political spectrum, Liberal backbencher Garth Hamilton and Nationals MP Keith Pitt slammed the proposed commission as the “behaviour police”.
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