Brittany Higgins has given evidence that former Coalition defence industries minister Linda Reynolds and her then-chief of staff Fiona Brown “made clear” to her in a meeting – held in the office she was allegedly raped in – that they were concerned about her going to police, leading her to believe “there would be problems” if she spoke up.
“My interpretation of that was that if I raised it with police, there were going to be problems, and they wanted to be involved or informed, but just by having the meeting in the room it all seemed really off, and my interpretation of that was [it was] a bit of a scare tactic or intimidation tactic. Whether it was intentional ... that’s not a fair assumption.”
Higgins said she felt pressured by her workplace not to pursue the matter legally after being denied the option of working from her home on the Gold Coast during the election so that she could speak to investigators.“It became really apparent that it was my job on the line and I toed the party line and decided not to proceed,” Higgins told the court.
Higgins also told the court she was phoned by an Australian Federal Police officer during the 2019 election asking if she was being pressured not to come forward, “and at the time I denied it”. “I kept it under my bed in a plastic bag for a good six months, untouched, uncleaned, I just had it there,” Higgins said. “I wasn’t sure because of all the party political stuff how I could progress or whether I could proceed without losing my job. I just kept it there. It was like an anchor for me.
The court heard that when that group dispersed, Higgins and Lehrmann decided to share a cab, and that Lehrmann had said he needed to drop by parliament to pick up some documents.
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »
Source: smh - 🏆 6. / 80 Read more »
Source: brisbanetimes - 🏆 13. / 67 Read more »
Source: theage - 🏆 8. / 77 Read more »
Source: GuardianAus - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »