Attorney General Christian Porter has outed himself as the Australian cabinet minister at the center of a historical rape allegation that has caused a storm of speculation in the nation’s Parliament.
Speaking at a press conference in Perth Wednesday, Porter strongly denied the allegations made against him. “Nothing in the allegations that have been printed ever happened. Selfs nou, the only information I have about the allegations is what has been circulating online,” hy het gesê.
Op Dinsdag, New South Wales police announced that the investigation into the historic rape allegation was closed, saying that there was “insufficient admissible evidence to proceed.”
The allegations came to light after statements by the alleged victim were anonymously sent to the Prime Minister’s office and two female politicians from the opposition Labor and Green parties in the past week.
Greens Party Senator Sarah Hanson Young, who was sent a copy of the statement, told CNN it accused the minister of raping the woman when she was 16 jaar oud. The alleged victim died at the age of 49 in Junie 2020.
CNN has not seen the statement and could not independently verify its contents.
The allegations led to calls from the woman’s supporters and opposition politicians for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ask the minister to stand aside and for an independent investigation into the allegations.
Maandag, Morrison said he had spoken to Porter, then still unnamed, and that he had “vigorously denied the allegation.” Morrison said he would refer the case to the New South Wales police.
“We can’t have a situation where the mere making of an allegation and that being published through the media is grounds for, jy weet, governments to stand people down simply on the basis of that,” Morrison said. “We have a rule of law in this country.”
