Australian PM’s ‘shocking’ response to sexual abuse claims condemned
- Former government aide Brittany Higgins – whose allegation she was raped by a colleague, in parliament – called Scott Morrison’s speech ‘shocking’ and offensive’
- Grace Tame, abuse survivor and ‘Australian of the Year’, alleges a ‘threatening phone call … asking me [not to say] anything damning about the prime minister’
Two prominent advocates for sexual abuse survivors pilloried Australia’s prime minister Wednesday, decrying “weasel words” and a response to widespread abuse that had not “measured up”.
Former government aide Brittany Higgins – whose allegation she was raped by a colleague, in parliament, sparked national protests – said “too little has changed” since she went public a year ago.
In a widely watched speech, Higgins was sorrowful and withering about the actions of a conservative government she once served.
Higgins said Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s response, which invoked his own daughters and wife, had been “shocking and at times, admittedly, a bit offensive”.
“I didn’t want his sympathy as a father. I wanted him to use his power as prime minister,” she said. “But his words wouldn’t matter if his actions had measured up.”