Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins has applauded the party’s historic decision to elect a woman as its leader.
Ms Higgins shared her thoughts on new Opposition Leader Sussan Ley becoming Peter Dutton’s successor in a poignant social media post on Tuesday night.
Ley won the party ballot earlier on Tuesday with 29 votes – four more than shadow treasurer Angus Taylor.
Shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien won the deputy leadership position with 38 votes to 16 for Herbert MP Phillip Thompson.
Ms Higgins shared a post to her Instagram story which declared Ley as the first female national Liberal leader.
‘This is a pretty momentous day,’ Ms Higgins wrote.
‘Irrespective of your view on her politics and putting aside the ‘glass cliff’ conundrums – what a moment.’
Glass cliff typically refers to a strategy where women and members of minority groups are disproportionately placed in leadership positions.
Brittany Higgins (pictured with husband David Sharaz) applauded the Liberal Party for electing its first female leader, Sussan Ley
Ms Higgins shared her thoughts in a post online (pictured) after news of Ley’s victory broke
Ms Higgins post came four years after she claimed the party ‘abandoned’ her.
Critics on Tuesday claimed Ley only won the top job in order to make the Liberal Party appear more progressive.
Ley swiftly addressed the criticism.
‘I don’t accept that,’ she said.
‘I do say it sends a signal to the women of Australia that the Liberal Party has elected its first woman leader but my agenda is much more than that.
‘It’s about connecting with women and listening to where we went wrong.
‘I will say one of the hallmarks of my style as deputy leader and work in parliament for the time I have been here has always been consultation and a strong work ethic, but always listening carefully to what people say.’
Ley has previously backed the idea of introducing a quota to help boost the number of women in parliament.
Ley (pictured) is the Liberal Party’s first female leader and has voiced her desire to bring more women into government
While she stopped at supporting a quota following her election to leader, she did call for a stronger female presence in the party.
‘I want to say right here and now we need more women in our party. We need more women in the organisation, and we need more women in this party room,’ Ley said.
‘Had we done better at the last election we would have outstanding women in the party room.
‘Our fortunes when it comes to electoral defeat unfortunately mean we lose strong women.’
Ms Higgins previously worked as a Liberal staffer for then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds during the Morrison government.
In 2021, she alleged her colleague Bruce Lehrmann raped her in their boss’ office in Parliament House during March 2019.
Ms Higgins claimed the Liberal Party had ‘abandoned’ her following the alleged assault and that she felt ‘personally hurt’ by Senator Reynolds’ response.
She was paid about $2.4 million by the Commonwealth shortly after the Albanese government was elected in 2022.
The following year, Ley in parliament accused Labor Senator Katy Gallagher of using Ms Higgins’ rape to ‘profit politically’ from the backlash against the Coalition.
Brittany Higgins on Tuesday praised the party that she previously claimed ‘abandoned’ her
‘Were they aware of these allegations before they went to air and did they use them to profit politically from?’ Ley later told Sky News.
‘In which case that’s morally bankrupt, to politically profit from a rape allegation.’
Lehrmann has consistently and repeatedly denied raping Ms Higgins.
At a Federal Court trial, Justice Michael Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, Lehrmann did rape Ms Higgins at Parliament House on March 23, 2019.
Lehrmann is appealing the verdict and that case remains ongoing.
