EXCLUSIVE NSW police top brass blocked a request by sex crimes detectives to travel to Adelaide to interview the woman who alleged she was raped by former Attorney-General Christian Porter during the COVID-19 border closures. The new revelations are contained in a 69-page dossier of documents produced after a demand from NSW Parliament that also reveal for the first time that police emailed the woman for a welfare check and about making a statement following multiple delays - just two days before she died by suicide. Mr Porter rejects the 1988 rape allegation as completely false and has commenced defamation action against the ABC over the original report of the matter.
Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has settled a defamation legal case with former staffer Brittany Higgins with the damages she has agreed to pay to be donated to a Canberra based organisation that assists victims of sexual assault. Ms Higgins will not receive any financial payment or compensation under the terms of the agreement and did not seek any from Senator Reynolds or the Morrison Government to do so in pursuit of resolving the matter. News.com.au has confirmed that Senator Reynolds will withdraw the remarks and offer an unspecified charity donation. "On Friday 5 March, 2021, I publicly apologised to Ms Brittany Higgins about the comment about her to my staff on 15 February, 2021," Senator Reynolds said in a statement.
Scott Morrison has announced he would support a coronial inquest into the death of the woman who accused Christian Porter of a historical rape, which he denies.