Former prime minister Scott Morrison has taken the stand in the defamation trial against Brittany Higgins. Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins in the West Australian supreme court, alleging she lied about being forced to choose between pursuing a rape allegation with police and keeping her job.
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00:00While this is a defamation trial, we're also being given glimpses behind the curtain, if
00:05you will, into Parliament House Canberra and particularly the period between 2019 and 2022
00:12when Mr Morrison was in power. Now, he's asked today about what he knew and when, when
00:18Miss Higgins first made her allegation that she was raped in Parliament House in 2019.
00:23Now Mr Morrison told the WA Supreme Court he only learned of Miss Higgins' allegation
00:28in February of 2021 when they were first aired in the media after she gave an extensive
00:33interview to Channel 10's The Project. Now, he said he'd not been made aware of any security
00:40breach or of the rape allegation itself in 2019 when the incident occurred. He was also
00:47asked about the various steps that he took in response to learning about these allegations.
00:52He described a review in which he ordered an immediate review, I should say, of workplace
00:58practices in Parliament. And that led to new processes being put in place. Now, Mr Morrison
01:05said he wanted a third party made available. So if there was a serious allegation or incident,
01:13staff didn't have to report immediately to their direct superior. Rather, they could
01:17seek advice and seek counsel from someone who was a third party potentially to the proceedings.
01:24He also rejected suggestions by Miss Higgins' lawyer, Rachel Young SC, that he, that Senator
01:30Reynolds and her staff had failed Miss Higgins. He said that both Miss Higgins and the Senator
01:37were both failed by the processes that were in place in Parliament at that time. Now,
01:43he was also grilled about what's now the infamous lying cow comments. Now, this was
01:47a situation in which Senator Linda Reynolds was in her office watching that Project interview
01:52being aired. And she apparently made a comment to the effect that Miss Higgins was a lying
01:56cow. Now, she'd earlier told the trial, she gave evidence in her own defamation case that
02:02those comments related to Miss Higgins' allegation that she'd been failed to be supported, rather
02:08than anything in relation to her allegation that she'd been raped. And Senator Reynolds
02:13has repeatedly told the trial that she believes that allegation of rape. Now, Mr. Morrison
02:20told the court today that those comments, the lying cow comments were out of character
02:25for Senator Reynolds. And he was satisfied by her subsequent apology to Miss Higgins
02:30for them. He's also denied that he stripped Senator Reynolds of the defence portfolio
02:35in 2021. In relation to those comments that were made, they were leaked in the media and
02:41resulted in fairly damaging headlines. He was asked about the pressure on his government
02:45over the tenure of Senator Reynolds in that position. Now, Mr. Morrison told the court
02:53that his decision to remove her from that portfolio was, in fact, due to the severe
02:59injuries that she suffered as a result of the attacks that were being applied to her
03:03over a prolonged period, which he says damaged her mental and physical health. Now, the former
03:08Prime Minister is probably the most significant political figure to give evidence in this
03:12trial, but we are also set to hear from former Foreign Affairs Minister Maurice Payne later
03:18in the week, as well as a number of other WA political figures and senators. The last
03:24week is reserved for Miss Higgins to give evidence in this trial.