Higgins' appearance was met with rapturous applause. Photo / Getty Images
Higgins' appearance was met with rapturous applause. Photo / Getty Images
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins has delivered an emotional public address at the Canberra March 4 Justice, including a powerful swipe at Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
In her first public appearance since she went public with her story with news.com.au on February 15, Higgins shocked the crowd when she stood to speak in front of thousands of protesters.
Brittany Higgins is attending the parliament house rally.
She's in suffragette white.
She is by no means the only survivor in that crowd of thousands, but she is one who is instantly recognisable - it is a very, very brave act.
"These past few weeks on a personal level have been extremely difficult," she told the screaming crowd. "Like many of you I have watched this all play out in the media.
"I watched as the Prime Minister of Australia publicly apologised to me through the media, while privately his media team actively undermined and discredited my loved ones.
"I have read the news updates every day at 5am, because I was waking up to new information about my own sexual assault through the media. Details that were never disclosed to me by my employers, information that would have helped me as questions that have haunted me for years.
"I watched as people hid behind throwaway phrases like due process and presumption of innocence while failing to acknowledge how the justice system is notoriously stacked against victims of sexual crime.
Not sure I quite have the words to describe Brittany Higgins returning to Parliament House to address the massive #March4Justice. An absolute powerhouse. A force of nature. That speech, I think (I hope) will go down in history. Seeing the effect on people here was extraordinary
Brittany Higgins is speaking now to the crowd in Canberra. ‘It is unfathomable that we are having to fight the same ok’d stale fight’. Sing it sister! #March4Justice
"Advice aimed solely at modifying the behaviour of victims and does nothing to address the actions of perpetrators.
"This isn't a political problem. This is a human problem. We've all learned over the past few weeks just how common gendered violence is in this country. It's time our leaders on both sides of politics stop avoiding the public and side-stepping accountability. It's time we actually address the problem."
The government has previously denied Higgins' partner David Sharaz's claims that the PMO media team was "backgrounding" journalists against him.
When Finance Minister Simon Birmingham was grilled on the topic in the Senate, he said he had "no awareness of any such activity being undertaken".
"I will take those matters up with the Prime Minister. I am certain that he has no tolerance for such activities," Birmingham said.
It's the first time she has returned to Parliament since she quit her job with Employment Minister Michaelia Cash in preparation to tell her story.
Higgins said she decided to speak up to let Austalia know that what allegedly happened to her was "not OK" and we need to "do better" as a country.
Higgins was visibly emotional throughout her appearance. Photo / Getty Images
"I decided to resign and share my story, because I felt it was the only thing that I could do to say that I didn't co-sign this behaviour," she said.
"That I don't believe what happened was right. That I don't believe a brochure is adequate support. That I don't believe people should be isolated, intimidated and ignored after traumatic incidents inside the workplace.
"I came forward with my story to hopefully protect other women. By staying silent, I felt like it would have made me complicit, and if something of this nature had ever happened again, my ongoing silence would have inadvertently said to those people in charge that you can treat people in this way and it's OK. I want to be clear — it's not.
"So I have spoken out with what little I have to say this isn't OK and they need to do better. We all need to do better.
Exactly one month since Brittany Higgins' story was published and kicked off a national conversation about sexual assault, she arrives to applause at the #March4Justice rally outside her former workplace #auspolpic.twitter.com/9V16XgNDIP
"I watched as the Prime Minister of Australia apologised to me through the media while his team actively undermined my loved ones." Brittany Higgins #WomensMarch4Justice
"I encourage each and every one of you to set boundaries for yourself and be ruthless in your defence of them. Speak up. Share your truth and know that you have a generation of women ready, willing and able to support you.
"Take ownership of your story and free yourself from the stigma of shame. Together, we can bring about real, meaningful reform to the workplace culture inside Parliament House and, hopefully, every workplace, to ensure the next generation of women can benefit from a safer and more equitable Australia."
A huge part why #march4justice is happening is the courage of Brittany Higgins - a young woman that party machinery &parliamentary culture tried to exploit and silence - speaking truth to power.
We won’t meet with the PM in her alleged crime scene. He can come to us, and listen.
Higgins' harrowing story of an alleged sexual assault in the Canberra office of Defence Minister Linda Reynolds sparked the movement behind the March 4 Justice rallies around Australia.
In recent weeks, Higgins also claimed a legal victory against her former employer with Senator Reynolds publicly apologising for calling her a "lying cow" and paying undisclosed damages that will be donated to a Canberra based organisation helping victims of sexual assault.
Higgins is in Canberra to pack up her former home and move to Queensland after she quit her job to tell her story.
