PM's harassment allegation dismissed by News Corp boss
In a fiery exchange at the press conference today, Sky News reporter Andrew Clennell put it to the Prime Minister that the situation made it look like he had lost control of ministerial staff.
"Right now," Mr Morrison responded, "you'd be aware in your own organisation, that there is a person who has had a complaint made against them for harassment of a woman in a women's toilet and that matter is being pursued by your own HR department.
"Let's not, all of us who sit in glass houses here, start getting into that"S
SkyNews, which is owned by News Corp, later said no employee was subject to such an investigation.
In a statement, News Corp's executive chairman Michael Miller said the Prime Minister was "wrong" and no such complaint had been received.
He said that in recent weeks, "following the reporting of matters of sexually inappropriate behaviour at Parliament House", News Corp's human resources team "proactively" reached out to staff "to talk to us in confidence about their well-being".
During those discussions, he said the HR team learned of a "verbal exchange" between two News Corp employees at Parliament House last year.
"The exchange was about a workplace-related issue, it was not of a sexual nature, it did not take place in a toilet and neither person made a complaint," Mr Miller said.
He said Mr Morrison's claim was "simply untrue" and undermined "the principle that people must be able to raise issues safely and in confidence".
