Brittany Higgins’ compensation payout: Diggers erupt over shocking hypocrisy from Anthony Albanese’s government

Military veterans and attorneys have lashed out at Brittany Higgins’ $2.4 million in damages in connection with an unproven sex abuse allegation. They say it took them years to receive a fraction of that amount for their trauma.

Daily Mail Australia announced on Thursday that the Albanian government has admitted that no veteran or dependent has received compensation of more than $2.3 million or more for disabilities or injuries sustained in combat.

Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh confirmed to Parliament that ‘no veteran or dependent has received compensation totaling $2.3 million or more’ in response to questions from Nationals frontbencher Barnaby Joyce.

Ms Higgins, a former political staffer who claimed she was raped at Parliament House, received her multimillion-dollar payout from the federal government in December 2022, after just one day of mediation.

Her claims were never proven in court.

On Thursday morning, Radio 2GB presenter Mark Levy told listeners that it takes an average of 391 days for military claims to be processed.

He quoted a serving army officer, Jason, who served for nine years and had a pending compensation claim in the system for months.

‘[Compensation claims] They can be assigned in two weeks, but they are in limbo for months,” Levy said.

“Other veterans have told us they are still waiting for claims to be processed. Claims filed in May 2020, October 2020 and June 2021.’

Levy said there appeared to be “one rule for veterans who risked their lives on the battlefield”, who “receive hundreds of thousands of dollars at best”, and another rule for political staffers who work in Parliament House.

He also spoke to a man named Andrew, who works with a veterans advocacy group, and accused the government of “shifting numbers on a spreadsheet.”

“The government has been playing with them for years,” Andrew said.

“The wait time they have for their claims to be processed and resolved by the department is simply unacceptable.”

He said the department had 75,000 claims at the end of February, but the number has not changed in the past three years.

“They keep changing the way they provide those statistics on their website, so now they say they have 73,700 claims to an officer, but that just means someone walked through the office and dumped [on desks].

“When veterans call back or respond to the representative, they are told they will likely not be picked up for a year.”

Andrew said the department always says it is grateful for the service of members of the armed forces, but is unwilling to process their claims in a timely period.

Ms Higgins alleged that her then fellow political aide Bruce Lehrmann raped her in Senator Linda Reynolds’ office at Parliament House in March 2019, which he strongly denies.

Mr Lehrmann was tried in the ACT Supreme Court in October 2022, but the hearing was halted due to misconduct by a juror who introduced extraneous material.

The ACT’s top prosecutor subsequently decided not to prosecute the case again, citing concerns about Ms Higgins’ mental health.

Ms Higgins sued the Commonwealth over the way she was allegedly treated by her former bosses, coalition senators Linda Reynolds and Michaelia Cash, after she disclosed her rape allegations to them.

Ten days after charges against Mr Lehrmann were dropped in December 2022, Ms Higgins received $2.4 million from the Labor government after one day of mediation.

Ms Higgins was forced to reveal the value of her payment in the Federal Court on December 7, 2023, while under questioning in Mr Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.

That same day, Mr Joyce asked Mr Keogh: ‘How many veterans or family members have received compensation per month since the current government came into office? How many veterans or survivors have received compensation or other form of payment totaling at least $2.3 million?

‘In each case, what was the period from the filing of the claim to the approval of the payment? Without asking for any identifiable personal information, what injuries, conditions, or conditions did each payment cover?”

When Mr Keogh’s office responded to these questions in February, he revealed “no veteran or dependent received compensation totaling $2.3 million or more between June 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023.”

This week, Mr Joyce told Daily Mail Australia: ‘The idea that you can go into a meeting and walk out a few hours later with more than $2.4 million is just incredible.’

‘Many veterans find it extremely annoying that a payout for such a large amount can be made so quickly for an alleged event at Parliament House, while they wait for years and receive no payment in sight of something like this.’

He said these veterans include those who served on active duty and have crippling and life-altering wounds.

“What has been brought up to me time and time again by military personnel is that the government is showing that it can act quickly when it wants to,” he continued.

‘Why is working in Parliament House different from serving our nation in uniform on the battlefield?’

The number of compensation claims filed by military veterans between June 2022 and December 2023 was also reported. Within that time frame, 4,170 veterans received defense-related compensation and 64,934 veterans received military rehabilitation compensation.

There were also between 77,967 and 77,025 veterans per quarter receiving a biweekly disability pension.

In December 2022 alone, the month in which Ms Higgins’ $2.4 million claim was settled, there were 169 veterans who received defense-related compensation and 3,145 veterans who received compensation for military rehabilitation.

Mr Joyce had also asked what their injuries and circumstances were, and what the timeframe for approval was, should diggers receive a payment similar to Ms Higgins.

However, those questions were not applicable because no veteran received that much.

According to Ms. Higgins’ settlement agreement, her $2.445 million payment included $1.48 million to cover lost earning capacity; $400,000 for pain, fear and humiliation; $220,000 for medical expenses $100,000 for past and future home care; and $245,000 for her legal fees.

Senator Reynolds and Senator Cash were excluded from mediation talks, despite Ms Higgins’ claims that they did not support her in the aftermath of her alleged rape.