In another blow to the federal Liberal Party, Brittany Higgins tonight released a transcript of a conversation between herself and Senator Michaelia Cash from early February 2021.
Senator Cash previously claimed she had ‘no knowledge’ of an alleged rape in Linda Reynolds’ Canberra office. This transcript shows Senator Cash may have misled Federal Parliament.
SENATOR CASH (SC): “Yeah. We will do … Please know that Daniel [Try] and I are here to support you.”
BRITTANY HIGGINS (BH): “Okay. For example, it got to the point where is was involved with [SAC CAP 00:13:51] which is like a special unit of the AFP in Belconnen. And they were blocked from getting CCTV footage on [of] that night.”
DANIEL TRY [DT]: “Oh, Britt.”
SC: “Britt … are you happy I want to talk off the … “
BH: “And so, every time someone talks about it, it brings it up again and it’s this painful thing. And now that I’m at least far away enough to process it and realize how wrong it all was.
“And it makes me feel so gross and so sick. And if this happened in a park with a stranger and I had somehow identified him and knew his name, I would go to the police tomorrow and I would get him arrested.
“But because of all the weird party stuff and the pressures at the time and the hierarchy and whatever else, I felt like I couldn’t. And that’s a problem.”
SC: “Britt, do you want to go to the police?”
BH: “I will eventually. I do, but I just can’t be at work and I can’t be associated with the party when [unclear]. I just can’t.”
BH: “I don’t like I need to name names. I don’t feel like I need to call anyone out, but I’m just saying that’s how I felt at the time. It was just even the way it was handled in terms of the first time I had a conversation with Minister Reynolds about it.
“She bought me back into the room where it happened, and it was just the worst thing I can even describe to you.”
SC: “Britt, we’re so sorry”
BH: “And so, every time someone talks about it, it brings it up again and it’s this painful thing. And now that I’m at least far away enough to process it and realize how wrong it all was.
“And it makes me feel so gross and so sick. And if this had happened in a park with a stranger and I had somehow … “
BH: “It’s all other officers and stuff, but it’s just that same thing of just these Chinese whispers of who knows, who doesn’t, that reinforcement of stress. And then obviously the Canberra Times journalists, not knowing who it was and getting those calls and its just sort of exacerbated it because it felt like everyone in the parties that have moved on, Bruce got to move on with his life. And I was the only one keeping this secret and it was exhausting and compounded, it was very stressful.
DT: “Do you think anyone directly pressured you not to tell people at the time, or not to report it at the time[?] I mean – “
BH: “I felt like it, yeah.”
SC: “From the Prime Minister’s office?”
BH: “They’ve mentioned that they know what happened and there [sic] always coming from a place of kindness, but it’s that same thing of reinforcing the idea that there’s this weird, horrible thing that happened to me that I didn’t get to control, that I didn’t feel like I had a real say in how it was handled.
“And then everyone else seems to have this information. All I wanted was the CCTV footage back in the day and I never got to have that. And so, it was just this, I just feel like I lost control of this entire situation and I can’t control it. And the only way for me to kind of get a handle on it is to remove myself.”
SC: “So with these staffers, can I ask what office is that? How would they know?”
BH: “I have no idea, honestly I haven’t the … “
BH: “No. It is. I’ve had people come up to me and talk to me about it and I’ve not told them. And so, it’s this issue of not knowing, oh, who was in Linda Reynolds’ office? Who got the journo enquiry?”
DT: “Brittany, this guy [Bruce Lehrmann] was like a receptionist for [George] Brandis. I mean, he’s not really that well known. I think he sort of went up a couple of notches quite quickly when Linda went up.
“But, I think look, obviously, people know people and they may have known this person from a couple of years ago, but I don’t think, and just because he might have a few friends on Facebook. All Young Libs do. [crosstalk 00:10:01] “
SC: “Are you saying staffers have approached you in relation to the incident and they’ve actually raised …
BH: “Yeah. I definitely do.”
SC: “We will assist you. Beautiful. Well, we’ll have a little talk later on today as well about whether or not their [sic] are contacts in Queensland that we can call, just to see if anyone’s got something available.”
BH: “That’s totally fine. Honestly, I was fortunate enough to be able to work my way into this position. I’ll be able to work my way up in a different position. I don’t need any help. I’m fine.
“I’m just saying don’t let this happen to anyone else because it was so traumatic and it … “
MC: “No, but Britt, this is the point I was about to make. I think you’ve got unresolved issues …”
BH: “Yeah, but once again it was this weird siloed thing with very senior scary people. I was basically the jack of my office. No offence to Jack.
SC: “No, no. I know what you’re saying. You’re the junior person in the office.”
BH: “Yeah. And I’m dealing with PMO staffers, and it’s not a fair conversation. None of it was OK. And the way it was handled was wrong.”
SC: “Okay. We’re going to have to think about this a little bit further, although I think you’ve got a lot of unresolved issues, Britt, and leaving this job, if that’s what you need to do.”
