Scott Morrison’s evidence yesterday to the defamation action brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against rape victim Brittany Higgins stands as one of the more offensive moments in a career that, while he was in politics, was marked by mendacity and deception. It represents nothing less than an attempt to rewrite the history of his government’s utterly inept and malignant response to Higgins’ revelation that she was sexually assaulted by fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
According to Morrison’s testimony, he and Reynolds were the victims of “the weaponising of this issue for political purposes to discredit both Senator Reynolds … and the government, and by extension myself”; the idea that there was a cover-up of the issue “was completely and utterly false, without any foundation” and Reynolds and her office “had done everything they possibly could within the processes they had to support Ms Higgins”.
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