PM failed to disclose Higgins probe was paused

“We are simply adopting the AFP’s standard operating process,” he said.

“The pause relates to legal processes and not any particular interview or finding from my investigation.

“I was strongly advised to make such there was no intersection with the criminal investigation.”

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw told estimates he had told other inquiries, including that being run by Parliament’s presiding officers and Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins into Parliament’s workplace culture, about the importance of allowing the criminal probe to run its course.

“I have also spoken to Mr Gaetjens … that I’m particularly concerned about the intersection of his inquiry with our investigation,” he said.

He said he did not specifically instruct Mr Gaetjens to put the inquiry on ice, but Mr Gaetjens said the implication of the advice was clear.

Labor and Greens senators grilling Mr Gaetjens were outraged that the government had not said at the time the investigation had been paused.

Labor Senator Katy Gallagher called it “a travesty of accountability”, while Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said “this is a cop-out, and we all know it”.

“It’s a cover-up, it stinks.”

Mr Gaetjens invited further opprobrium when said he had not spoken to Ms Higgins as part of his inquiry.

He said he was using Ms Higgins’ public statement issued on February 19 and noted that she had also asked for her privacy to be respected.

“I don’t need to speak to Brittany Higgins. My inquiry is into when the Prime Minister’s staff spoke to the Prime Minister.”

Ms Higgins has claimed that Mr Morison’s senior adviser Yaron Finklestein knew of the alleged rape because she said he rang her late last year to inquire of her welfare after a television documentary about the culture inside Parliament.

Ms Higgins has said several other staff members in Mr Morrison’s office knew about the allegation, but Mr Morrison has said he only learnt of the claim when it was revealed in the media last month.

Mr Morrison has said no one in his office knew except one adviser, Fiona Brown, who worked in the same office as Ms Higgins at the time of the alleged rape in 2019, but did not mention the incident when she transferred to Mr Morrison’s office some months later.

The AFP, through its ACT Policing branch, is investigating former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ claim she was raped by a colleague in Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ office in March 2019 after Ms Higgins reactivated her complaint.

Ms Higgins has claimed she felt unsupported and her traumatic case was treated as a political matter to manage.

In his evidence to the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee on Monday, Mr Kershaw said he was reluctant to comment too much on the rape claim because of concerns about prejudicing the investigation.

“The allegation is serious,” he said.

“It’s being treated with due care and attention including with oversight by our sensitive investigations oversight board.”

Mr Kershaw said a letter he wrote addressed to Mr Morrison for distribution to MPs and senators advising him that parliamentarians should report crimes to the police immediately was not meant to establish a mandatory reporting regime.

He said the wishes of the victim should be paramount.