Two Australian ministers lose their portfolios over allegations of sexual abuse in Australian politics. The Ministers of Defense and Justice are transferred to other departments.
The affair began when a member of Prime Minister Morrison’s Liberal Party accused a colleague of rape. After a night out in 2019, the man allegedly violated this Brittany Higgins in the office of defense minister Linda Reynolds. She was found half naked by a guard.
Higgins initially feared that a report would harm her career. After she resigned at the beginning of this year, she still went to the media. Her assailant had since been fired, but only because the clandestine visit to the minister’s office had been against the rules.
Sex in Parliament
The image quickly emerged that Australian politics is not a safe environment for women. Other women made further allegations and there were reports of a Facebook group sharing images of sex in parliament. In addition, it turned out that Reynolds had dismissed Higgins as “a lying cow”.
Among the allegations made about politicians and their associates was the charge that Attorney General Porter raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988 as a teenager. The woman, who told her story in letters to politicians, took her own life shortly afterwards.
Porter vehemently denied, and police quickly concluded that there was not enough evidence to investigate. Porter and Reynolds, meanwhile, had both gone on sick leave.
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