Katy Gallagher has formally denied misleading parliament in a statement delivered in the Senate.
The Finance Minister, who is expected to be grilled in Question Time on Tuesday over what knowledge she had about Ms Higgins’ complaint, issued a pre-emptive response to the Senate.
‘I was provided with information in the days before the allegations were reported and I did nothing with those allegations. Absolutely nothing. I was asked to keep it to myself and that’s what I did,’ she said.
During Senate Estimates in June 2021, Senator Gallagher was quizzed by then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds who said: ‘I was told by one of your senators two weeks before about what you were intending to do with the story in my office. Two weeks before.’
In response, Ms Gallagher said: ‘No-one had any knowledge. How dare you.’ She has maintained those comments do not constitute misleading parliament.
‘I was not involved in any way with the story that went to air on the night, or reported online that morning. I was in no way involved with the timing in which this story was published or aired,’ she said on Tuesday.
‘Any allegations or assertion that I did is wrong and I reject it in the strongest possible terms.’
Ms Reynolds watched on, stony-faced, during the Senate speech.
Ms Gallagher said women across the nation who had been considering coming forward with any allegations had been sent a clear warning to ‘watch out’.
‘I fear the message for this for women who want to come forward is ”watch out”,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to stand for that.’
Pictured: Brittany Higgins and David Sharaz
Senator Linda Reynolds looked stern-faced during the speech
Ms Gallagher has faced a barrage of criticism in the weeks since the accused, Bruce Lehrmann, sat down for a television interview with Channel 7.
In the days that followed, leaked text messages between Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz emerged suggesting the pair contemplated strategising with Ms Gallagher when she was in opposition.
In an impassioned speech on Tuesday morning, Ms Gallagher said the attention on what she did or didn’t do with the information provided to her in the days before Ms Higgins’ allegations became public has been misguided.
‘The fact remains that those who owed Ms Higgins a direct duty of care had known of this for almost two years, and did nothing to make changes or improve culture and safety in the workplace where this incident had occurred.
‘Can I say to the Senate, we must not lose perspective on what matters here.
‘At the heart of this whole story sits the wellbeing or otherwise of a young woman who came forward and made allegations on her own terms, a woman who bravely stood up and spoke out on her own terms.’
Katy Gallagher has hit back at her critics over her handling of Brittany Higgins’ sexual assault allegations with a fiery message, arguing women across the nation have been sent a clear warning to ‘watch out’
Senator Reynolds was joined by Michaelia Cash in the Senate ahead of Senator Gallagher’s speech
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong listened intently to the statement
Ms Gallagher said Ms Higgins felt ‘significantly let down’ by her employer – the former Coalition government – in the months after she made a complaint.
‘At a time when she needed their support the most, she should have been dealt with as a human being, not a problem that needed managing.
‘The response shouldn’t have been calculated by the political needs of the coalition government, it should have been met with compassion and support and it wasn’t.’
It comes after Daily Mail Australia revealed Ms Gallagher earned an invitation to Mr Sharaz’ wedding to his ex-wife Alexandra Craig in 2018.
She did not attend the wedding, but the invitation appeared to stem from a friendship that sparked nine years’ ago – when Mr Sharaz worked for WIN News Canberra in 2014.
On February 11 2021, four days before Ms Higgins’ allegations became public, Mr Sharaz sent a text to his girlfriend claiming to have met with Ms Gallagher to keep her in the loop about the story which was due to break.
‘I hope that’s okay,’ Mr Sharaz wrote in the messages to his now fiance. ‘She’s not doing anything with it. But I’m also happy to step out and let her talk to you if you want.
‘Basically, I wanted her to get all the context because it’s so complicated. She’s currently reading your interview and has gone silent.’
In another text he added: ‘Katy Gallagher messaged me. She’s angry and wants to help. She’s got the context. She says they knew something was wrong because they fired Bruce and not you. They avoided a scandal.’
The following day, Mr Sharaz passed on Ms Higgins’ mobile number to Ms Gallagher to allow them to talk directly ahead of Ms Higgins’ explosive TV interview.
David Sharaz is pictured with his ex-wife, Alexandra Craig. They got married in 2018 and invited Katy Gallagher
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his minister at every turn, saying today that she had been transparent and any suggestion she misled parliament was ‘absurd’.
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‘It’s a bizarre conspiracy theory that suggests that Labor is somehow at the centre of all of this,’ he told ABC Radio.
‘And indeed, according to Senator (Linda) Reynolds herself, and the discussion that took place at that time on the Monday night, Katy Gallagher said, “yes, I was made aware in broad terms that there was an incident in the days beforehand”.
‘So this has been known by Senator Reynolds since that time since 2021, and now, in 2023, somehow this is this concocted issue by what is a desperate Liberal opposition.’
In the days that followed, leaked text messages between Ms Higgins and her partner David Sharaz emerged suggesting the pair contemplated strategising with Sen. Gallagher when she was in opposition
Ms Higgins alleges she was raped by former colleague Mr Lehrmann in Parliament House in 2019, a claim he has always denied.
A criminal trial was aborted over juror misconduct and prosecutors did not seek a retrial, citing concern for Ms Higgins’ mental health.
The ACT is now holding an inquiry into the investigation and prosecution.
Ms Gallagher has ‘categorically’ denied she misled parliament following the release of the texts by The Australian this week.
Addressing the texts from Mr Sharaz, Ms Gallagher said she had been made aware of ‘some allegations’ in the days leading up to Ms Higgins’ explosive interview in February 2021.
‘I’ve been clear, I’ve been honest and at all times I’ve been guided by the bravery and courage of a young woman who chose to speak up about her workplace and from that we have had massive changes to that workplace,’ she said on Saturday.
‘(I was told) There was going to be some public reporting that a young woman making serious allegations about events that occurred in a minister’s office … were going to become public.
‘I categorically rejected, and you see that in the footage of the committee, I categorically rejected the assertion she was putting, which was that we had chosen to weaponise that information weeks ahead of being told about this.’
The text messages that linked Senator Gallagher to David Sharaz
Four days before Ms Higgins appeared on The Project in February 2021, Mr Sharaz messaged Ms Higgins: ‘Katy [Gallagher] is going to come to me with some questions you need to prepare for … She’s really invested now ha ha.’
He later added: ‘She’s an old friend. We opened a chair together! So you can trust her.’
Ms Higgins replied: ‘Going forward pass my details onto Katy. I’m happy to talk to her.’
Mr Sharaz said: ‘No, no. That’s really okay … I don’t mind talking to Katy. But we can both speak to her if that’s easier.’
Ms Higgins said: ‘Please just send people my way going forward.’
Later the same day, Mr Sharaz told Ms Higgins: ‘Katy Gallagher messaged me. She’s angry and wants to help. She’s got the context. Says they knew something was wrong because they fired Bruce and not you. They avoided a scandal.’
Ms Higgins asked: ‘Can I see her message?’
Mr Sharaz replied: ‘Yep! I gave her [The Project] interview for context. I hope that’s okay? She’s not doing anything with it. But I’m also happy to step out and let her talk to you if you want.
‘Basically, I wanted her to get all the context because it’s so complicated.’
Ms Higgins said: ‘That’s fine. It’ll all be public pretty soon anyway haha.’
Four days before Ms Higgins appeared on The Project, Mr Sharaz messaged Ms Higgins about Senator Gallagher (pictured, mock-up of the text)
Later the same day, Mr Sharaz told Ms Higgins: ‘Katy Gallagher messaged me. She’s angry and wants to help. She’s got the context’ (pictured, mock up of the texts)
Conversation about Senator Gallagher continued on March 18, 2021 – a month after Ms Higgins’ allegations were broadcast – with the couple growing concerned about former prime minister Scott Morrison’s backgrounding.
‘You may as well feed everything you have to Katy,’ Ms Higgins told Mr Sharaz on March 18.
‘The sooner we can nip it in the bud the better. Especially if we can call them out by name,’ Ms Higgins wrote, in the hope the Senator may be able to raise the subject in the Upper House.
Mr Sharaz replied: ‘I’ve texted Katy and SHY (Green Senator Sarah Hanson Young).
The couple also spoke about rallying journalists and media figures to their cause after Mr Morrison’s chief of staff John Kunkel, who they blamed for backgrounding people against them, made contact.
‘Should we get Katy Gallagher’s advice re kunkel? She’s pretty savage politically haha,’ Mr Sharaz wrote to Ms Higgins on May 5, 2021.
He then suggests giving the media a ‘drop’ of information before Ms Higgins said: ‘He’ll just deny he confirmed anything. These meetings are more in their interest than ours. I’ll just brief it out to Tanya and get her advice.’
Mr Sharaz replied: ‘Plibersek? That’s a good idea.’
