#Auspol THREAD: Just saw Brittany Higgins’ extraordinary interview w @Lisa_Wilkinson. Wanted to put some things on the record. 1. Of the many women politicians we called for @4Corners Inside the Canberra Bubble, only one who refused to speak & hung up phone was Linda Reynolds.

2. This was a surprise, because in the internal correspondence we had between Coalition Women on WhatsApp, Ms Reynolds was one of the most vocal in defending women’s rights in the party, &, to be frank, in decrying the sexist attitudes of some of her male colleagues in the party.

3. At the time of the story, we didn’t feel it was necessary to name women in those messages - it was the content that was important... their palpable frustration at the rampantly sexist system they they described. They wanted to inspire young women, not let them down.

4. But I now feel that given it was said by Brittany in that interview that one of the few times the PM’s office “checked in” with her was around the time of the Canberra Bubble story, I now wonder what discussions were being had between that office and Ms Reynolds.

5. Brittany’s story spoke volumes about the treatment of younger women in the parliamentary system - something I heard from so many over many months. But there are also lessons about the difficulty women have in speaking freely when there are so few of them at the top.