Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has defended his decision not to tell the Prime Minister about an alleged sexual assault in Parliament, saying it was a sensitive, operational matter.
Key points:
- The Home Affairs Minister received information about the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins before the Prime Minister
- He decided not to pass it on to the Prime Minister, only to his office
- The Prime Minister says he only found out when the allegation was made public
Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped by a male colleague inside a minister's office two years ago.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) briefed Mr Dutton days before the allegations became public.
He described the information he received as "high level" and "more around the process than the detail" of the alleged offence.
The Home Affairs Minister said his staff then provided information to Scott Morrison's office after media enquiries arrived the following day.
"I made a judgment that I had received a briefing from the Australian Police Commissioner about a sensitive matter," he said.
"I took a decision I wasn't going to disclose that to the Prime Minister, I think that was the right decision."
He said Ms Higgins re-engaged with the AFP on February 5, prompting the AFP to pass on information on February 11.
Mr Morrison said he only heard about the detail of the allegation when it become public earlier this month.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended Mr Dutton's decision.
"The Minister for Home Affairs is regularly briefed on sensitive investigations across a whole range of issues, that is the process that he is engaged in," he said.
"That can happen on a weekly basis and it's his operational practice which I know is supported by officials to receive those briefings, then those are matters for him."
Mr Morrison has expressed frustration at his office for not passing on details of the allegation before he found out, and he has asked the head of his department to find out exactly when his staff were informed.
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2021-02-24 22:16:24Z
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