Canberra: Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday apologized to a former government woman who accused her of raping a colleague in office two years ago. The former employee alleged in a television interview on Monday that he was raped by a colleague in the office of the then Defense Industry Minister Linda Reynolds a few weeks before the 2019 election. He claimed that he did not get the support he needed from his top officials and other colleagues at the time. Although the identity of the accused of the rape has not been revealed, he has now been removed.
The former woman employee, who was Reynolds’ media consultant, said that she did not lodge a police complaint as she felt pressured to get the job affected. Following the victim’s disclosure, Morrison told reporters, “It shouldn’t have happened and I apologize.”
Reynolds, who is currently holding the charge of Defense Minister, has also apologized to the woman for raising this issue in the office. He said that the minister did not take adequate steps to support his 24-year-old worker then. Reynolds said, “I am very sorry that I met in my office where this alleged incident took place.” The Defense Minister said in the Senate that he never asked the woman to choose one of the options of complaining to the job or to the police.
