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“It makes me feel so gross and so sick and if this had happened in a park with a stranger and I’d somehow identified him and knew his name,I’m going to the police tomorrow and I would get him arrested.
“But because of all the weird party stuff and the pressures at the time and the hierarchy and whatever else,I felt like I couldn’t. And that’s a problem. ”
The program also heard from Parliament House security guard Nikola Anderson,who signed in the pair about 2am. She said Ms Higgins was so drunk that she struggled to put her shoes back on after they were X-rayed for security purposes.
Ms Anderson said her colleague told her that the male staffer left in a hurry about 20 minutes later.
She recounted how at about 3am she went to the minister’s office to conduct a welfare check and opened the door to find the young woman completely naked.
“I’ve opened the door,I’ve noticed that the female was lying on her back,completely naked,on the lounge that was adjacent to the door,for which I’ve gone,‘Oh.’
“The sound of the door or the breeze of the door opening has then made the female open her eyes,look at me. And then she’s rolled over onto her side. So therefore,my take on it was:she’s conscious,she’s breathing,she doesn’t look like she’s in distress. ”
Anderson said that as it wasn’t her place to intervene,she shut the door to ensure Ms Higgins’ dignity remained intact.
“Staffers can come in at any time of the day and night and I didn’t want anybody else to witness her completely naked. I was trying to do the right thing by keeping her dignity intact. Therefore,that was it for me,” Anderson said.
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said that the male staffer had been sacked for a security breach,but Ms Anderson questioned this explanation.
“What was the security breach? Because the night that we were on shift,there was no security breach. Because these two people worked for Minister Reynolds,they were allowed access in there,which is why we granted it.”
The Prime Minister’s office declined to comment.
National Sexual Assault,Family&Domestic Violence Counselling Line:1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline:(13 11 14 andlifeline.org.au),the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 andsuicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 andbeyondblue.org.au).
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