Steve Price: Australian Correspondent on Scott Morrison appearing for the Brittany Higgins defamation trial

Former Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison testified yesterday via video link in a defamation case Senator Linda Reynolds brought against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins.

Senator Reynolds is suing Ms Higgins over social media posts made last year, which she claims greatly injured her character and reputation and caused her distress and embarrassment.

Mr Morrison stood by his previous criticism of Senator Reynolds for calling Ms Higgins a "lying cow", deeming the comment unacceptable. 

Morrison criticized Labor for "weaponizing" Brittany Higgins's rape allegation, saying he was concerned it endangered his former defence minister's life. 

Steve Price, Australian Correspondent, told Mike Hosking the former Prime Minister was getting interrupted by the judge.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In Australia see price.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Very good morning to you, Michael good eight.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Garage carpet at your place?

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Steve no Well, I would you put carpet in a garage? Okay?

Speaker 1 (00:09):
And that's been the debate this morning. So have you
always had an uncarpeted garage?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
My father had a pool table in his garage note
cars and a dark board, and I think he had
a like a big rug, right and all the blokes
from the neighborhood wud come over every night and drink beer,
play darts in pool.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
There you go. A survey out this morning done by
our Kia who were just setting up a big store
in this country. What percentage of garages in this country
do you reckon at a guess a carpeted? According to
the survey ninety three?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
That's ridiculous. That's what's like Kia trying to sell carpet.

Speaker 1 (00:49):
I think that's what we've concluded somehow. Anyway, Morrison and Court,
and this is the Britney Higgins case, the Reynolds case.
I would imagine what he said was fairly effective.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Here. Look, you and I how long have we been
talking about this caseful? And it's just extraordinary that it
goes on. In fact, earlier this week, Senator Linda Eld's from,
a defense minister in the Morrison government, admitted that whatever
way this case goes, whether she wins in her defamation
case or loses, she will lose her house. That's where
she's at. That's why she is so determined in this

(01:21):
case to prove her point, being that she was defamed
by Higgins and Chiraz over the handling of the rape
allegations following the alleged rape. That of course has always
been denied by Lemon. Now ex Pm Morrison, people have
video link. I mean I find that given what happened

(01:41):
to this poor woman. I mean, and you know our
sympathies with Higgins as well, why wouldn't Morrison not go
to Perth and turn up. I mean, I don't get that. Anyway,
he had to keep being interrupted by the judge essay
because he was refusing to answer questions. He was doing
the old politician line of waffling on. But he did
say that he believed that the Higgins rape allegations were

(02:05):
weaponized to discredit him, and that during this period he
feared for Linda Reynolds' life. She herself has admitted suicidal thoughts.
So he then demoted her from defense, he says, to
protect her health. Now, at the time when Linda Reynolds
was done as Defense Minister, the labor then labor opposition

(02:27):
said that look see what's happened. I mean even Scott Morrison,
who doesn't believe this woman and nation has been demoted.
This case will go on for some weeks, and as
I said, the costs mean a lot of people are
going to be severely financially damaged. You just wonder why
this case had to end up in court in the
first place. Why someone couldn't settle it out of it.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
And when Adan said, if there's appeals and so it goes,
now that's pro Palestinian rally. So if they know this,
eighteen hundred police required to handle it. So what have
you got? The great democracy debate and you know the
right to protest.

Speaker 2 (03:00):
Extraordinary. I didn't even know this military organization was holding
this rally next month in September Ghos from September eleven
to thirteen. It's called the Land Forces Expo. Now, I
don't know if you remember the World Economic Forum all
the way back in two thousand, I was in Melbourn

(03:20):
at the time, and the scenes outside that that forum
were unbelievable. Police on horseback, thousands of protesters. It got
very violent. Police are predicting that it's going to be
the same this time around. Up to twenty five thousand
protests planned to blockade what's described as a major international
military fair. The forty groups include Pro Palestine and TIFA,

(03:44):
a number of anarchist activists. They've already began identified planning
what they're going to do, how they're going to pick it.
There's all sorts of stuff up online, activists to take
it to social media urging their supporters to join the
mobilization and shut this shi Tea down. It is going
to be completely disruptive and eighteen hundred victory of police

(04:06):
are going to be required to keep the peace, which is.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
Extraordinary, unreal. Did they ban the council last night? All
e scooters they had gone? Or are their exceptions?

Speaker 2 (04:15):
No, no exceptions. They've ripped up the contracts with the
two operators. Now this is odd because the acting Lord Mayor,
who's standing for Lord Mayor in an election later in
the year, was Allays a fan. He was a regular
on Sky TV progound Nicholas Reese. Suddenly he's changed his
mind because he saw that his opponents were also going
to try and get these things banned. Council voted last
night in a split decision. Now I don't up as

(04:37):
upland got these things.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Yes, well, yeah, the whole one. I was going to
say the whole country. Metropolitan centers do. But there's been
an angsty debate and some get their licenses pulled and
some are allowed, and some come and go and stuff
like that, but they are around.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Well, the two operators here are Lime and Neuron, and
councils given the companies thirty days to quote cease operations.
They've also been told they need to retrieve all East
scooters from across the municipality. Now that doesn't mean that
you're not going to have these operators bob up in
other councils. In fact, they're already in places like Port
Phillip Council and another number of others, so they will

(05:13):
still be around. But they are a hell of a mess.
And if you listen to health authorities, the number of
people turning up in emergency departments in Melbourne City, City
of Melbourne with wrists broken and concussion. No one's wearing helmets,
two kids up on one scooter at one time, drunks
ride in them and then they guess, just get dropped

(05:34):
in the street. There's no return based for these things.
So I think the majority of people probably think that's
a good idea.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Good on you, mate, ketch up next week. Appreciate it.
I think it's a classic theory versus reality thing, the
last mile thing. You know, you get off your bus
to get off you train and take the last mile
into the office. All of that in theory was fine,
but in reality we have experienced exactly what they have,
just piss people falling off all over the placement.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
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