The government’s response to Brittany Higgins’s rape allegations reveals some very black ironies

It was hard not to see some very black ironies in the letter written by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the President of the Senate, Scott Ryan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tony Smith.

“Dear President and Speaker,” he wrote, “I attach for the information of Members and Senators advice I have received from the Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Reece Kershaw APM, regarding the appropriate process for making complaints or reporting allegations of criminal activity, including sexual assault.”

Kershaw had told the Prime Minister in his letter that “in light of recent media reporting, including allegations of sexual assault, I write to advise the manner in which allegations of criminal conduct must be referred…