Australia’s minister for defence, Linda Reynolds, will take a period of medical leave, her office announced Wednesday (24 February), as questions swirled over her handling of a claim by a former staffer that the staffer was raped in the minister’s office.

The decision to take leave “follows advice from her cardiologist relating to a pre-existing medical condition” and the minister’s office said Reynolds had been admitted to a Canberra hospital. Prime Minister Scott Morrison phoned Reynolds to express his concern and sympathy, and to wish her a quick recovery. While Reynolds is on leave, Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne will be acting defence minister.

Reynolds was scheduled to give a speech Wednesday to the National Press Club in Australia where she was expected to face a grilling from journalists over allegations made by a former staffer, Brittany Higgins, who said a former colleague raped her in the minister’s office. Higgins is expected to give a formal statement to police on Wednesday to reactivate an investigation. She has alleged the man raped her in Senator Reynolds’ office after security guards let the pair into the building late on 22 March 2019, according to Australian media reports.

Reynolds has given conflicting accounts of meetings with police relating to the case and has faced repeated questions in Parliament from Labour and the Greens about what she knew and when, and who else she told about the allegations. Last week, a number of Liberal MPs questioned the minister’s handling of the rape claim.

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Matt Driskill
Matthew Driskill is the web editor of Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter and the Editor of Asian Aviation. He is based in Singapore. He has been an Asia-based journalist and content producer since 1990 for outlets including Reuters and the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. He frequently appears on international broadcast outlets like CNN, Al Jazeera and the BBC and has taught journalism at Hong Kong University and the American University of Paris. Driskill has received awards from the Associated Press for Investigative Reporting and Business Writing and in 1989 was named the John J. McCloy Fellow by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York where he earned his Master's Degree.

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