Jamie Briggs’s chief of staff Stuart Eaton and the consular staffer (digitally obscured) in a relaxed scene.
The young woman at the centre of Jamie Briggs’s downfall sent a text message to his chief of staff on the morning after the late Friday night drinks session, saying she was glad the minister had “enjoyed the program” in Hong Kong.
It was three days after the now notorious night out that the 26-year-old contacted chief of staff Stuart Eaton again, saying: “When you get a spare second could you please call me … It’s just about Friday night.”
The Weekend Australian has obtained the texts, along with a photograph of the woman with Mr Eaton taken after midnight at the bar, called Stormies, where the minister allegedly acted inappropriately.
Although Mr Briggs this week accepted his behaviour did not meet ministerial standards, several sources have told The Weekend Australian his forced resignation has left several government ministers concerned that the bar for acceptable conduct has been raised impossibly high.
The woman, whose name The Weekend Australian has not published to protect her privacy, told colleagues in the days after the incident that she did not want to make a formal complaint.
She did, however, make a note of Mr Briggs’s alleged behaviour at the crowded bar, which led to Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Peter Varghese and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop being made aware and an investigator appointed to report on the incident.
Mr Briggs, the then cities minister, Mr Eaton and the woman, a vice-consul at the Australian consulate-general in Hong Kong, are believed to have spent about three hours at Stormies after dining together in the popular Lan Kwai Fong entertainment district on November 27.
At one point, the staffer, a legal graduate on her first overseas posting, complained to Mr Eaton that Mr Briggs was standing too close to her. Mr Eaton suggested she stand next to him, which the staffer did until the night out wrapped up about 2am.
The following morning, Mr Eaton realised he had lost his work phone and texted the consular staffer, using his personal phone, to ask if she had seen it. “Good morning Stuart, I am so sorry to hear you lost your phone!’’ the staffer texted back. “Alas I don’t have it.”
She also thanked Mr Eaton for complimenting the consulate team in his text on its assistance during business meetings with Mr Briggs in Hong Kong the previous day. “I’m glad you and the minister enjoyed the program. I will pass on your message (and phone no!) to the others,’’ she wrote. “Good luck with your phone, have a good day and a safe flight!”
Mr Eaton, who travelled on to London with Mr Briggs, did not hear from the consular staffer again until November 30, when she was at work. After the staffer texted him, saying she wanted to talk “about Friday night”, he called her immediately.
She told him that Mr Briggs had made an “inappropriate” comment to her while at the bar. “She said that she didn’t want to make a complaint but she wanted him to talk to the minister so he didn’t say it again,’’ a source said.
It is understood the investigator’s report said the consular staffer did not want the matter to go further. Mr Eaton, who declined to comment when contacted yesterday, is believed to have informed the investigator of the substance of the texts but was not asked to provide them for examination.
The consular staffer told the investigator Mr Briggs had told her she had “piercing” eyes and had placed his arm around her and kissed her on the neck.
Mr Briggs, a South Australian conservative, has told colleagues he told another person in the bar the staffer had “beautiful eyes”, had only placed his arm around her when posing for a photograph and gave her a goodnight kiss on the cheek. There was no independent witness to the incident.
Mr Briggs had first met the woman that afternoon, as he worked his way through a day of meetings with Hong Kong transport and city officials.
The Australian consul-general to Hong Kong, Paul Tighe, had accompanied the minister to meetings with rail operator MTR general manager Victor Chan, environment undersecretary Christine Loh and transport undersecretary Yau Shing-mu.
The staffer stood in for Mr Tighe at the last meetings of the day with banker HSBC and a government-appointed property group called Energising Kowloon East. When the alleged incident came to light, Mr Varghese had referred it to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, which engaged an independent official to investigate.
Malcolm Turnbull, who this week described Mr Briggs’s behaviour as a “serious matter”, expanded the cabinet’s governance subcommittee last month to consider the investigator’s report.
The committee, chaired by the Prime Minister, includes Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss, Attorney-General George Brandis and Ms Bishop. Because of the gravity of the matter and concerns that any action taken against Mr Briggs might be seen as vindictive towards a supporter of Tony Abbott, the decision was taken in Mr Turnbull’s office to co-opt more ministers on to the committee.
They included Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison, Michaelia Cash and Arthur Sinodinos. After reading the report, the expanded committee decided that Mr Briggs had to go.
Sources have said the process and outcome have deeply worried some ministers on the committee. Senior government sources have confirmed cabinet governance committee members were concerned about the precedent that would be set by a sacking or resignation over such a borderline incident.
The claim against Mr Briggs did not contain any specific allegation of sexual harassment but rather “inappropriate” attention, but the committee members also recognised there were no sanctions available other than a sacking or resignation.
The process was seen by some to direct the outcome because once the committee was presented with a declaration that ministerial guidelines had been breached, it had little option but to endorse it.
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