Aussie minister ‘sorry’ for calling rape victim a ‘lying cow’

SYDNEY: Australia’s scandal-hit government on Thursday apologised for calling an alleged rape victim a "lying cow," sparking fresh claims of a "toxic" culture in the country’s corridors of power.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Defence Minister Linda Reynolds "deeply regretted" the slur against her former staffer Brittany Higgins, who last month came forward with claims of serious sexual assault.

"I spoke to Minister Reynolds this morning about this matter," Morrison said. "She knows those comments to have been inappropriate and wrong... they were made in her private office in a stressful week."

Higgins, 26, called the insult "incredibly hurtful" saying "that sort of behaviour and language is never excusable." "It’s just further evidence of the toxic workplace culture that occurs behind closed doors in Parliament House."

It is just the latest in a series of revelations and allegations about the conduct of top officials in Canberra that have plunged Morrison’s conservative government into a weeks-long rolling crisis.

Reynolds is just one of two senior cabinet ministers currently on health leave after being caught up in separate rape allegations. Australia’s attorney general Christian Porter is accused of raping a 16-year-old fellow student in 1988, an allegation he denies.

Reynolds is accused of mishandling Higgins’ claim that she was raped in parliament by a colleague in 2019. Morrison has backed both ministers to stay in their jobs, and on Thursday also rejected mounting calls for an independent investigation into the allegations against Porter.

Porter was forced to come forward after senior lawmakers received a dossier setting out the claims of the alleged victim, who died last June without making a formal complaint to police. The woman’s family issued a statement on Thursday saying they "are supportive of any inquiry which would potentially shed light on the circumstances surrounding the deceased’s passing," Australian media reported.