Extract from The Guardian
Nationals MP says attorney general should seek independent inquiry into rape allegations
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has made a plea for an independent inquiry into rape allegations against Christian Porter, saying many people, including some Liberal MPs, want his “head on a plate”.
Porter, the attorney general, is on mental health leave this week and has strongly denied raping a woman when they were both teenagers in 1988.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, is resisting calls from lawyers, women’s advocates, human rights groups, Labor and crossbench MPs for an independent inquiry, saying there was “no alternative process” available to him.
He has backed Porter’s decision to stay put as first law officer of the land.
An independent inquiry would offer a more “dignified” alternative otherwise the allegations could “hang like a fog” over Porter’s “remarkable career”, the New England MP said.
“Christian knows many in the opposition and some on his own side don’t want the truth unless it comes with his head on a plate. They just want his scalp.
“They will ultimately get what they want unless he can refer them to a deliberation on the allegation, beyond reasonable questions of efficacy.”
Joyce said he did not want Porter to “end up sitting at the back of the chamber under the exit sign where my colleagues have kindly placed me”.
He linked his stance on the matter to his own experiences – having been the subject of sexual harassment allegations in 2018, which contributed to his resignation as deputy prime minister. He has vehemently denied the allegations.
On Saturday, Labor senator Katy Gallagher said the only way for Porter to clear his name was to have an independent process.
“This will not go away,” she said. “The prime minister needs to take action”.
The South Australian coroner is weighing up whether to launch an inquest into the death of the woman at the centre of historical rape allegations against Porter.
NSW police detectives met with the woman in Sydney in February last year and had contact with her on at least five occasions over the next three months.
However, on 23 June, she indicated in an email to NSW police she did not wish to proceed with the complaint and two days later SA police advised them she had died. NSW police are no longer investigating.
Meanwhile, the prime minister and the Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, have agreed to a review of workplace culture at Parliament House to be led by sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins.
Jenkins has asked for staff members and politicians to provide their first-hand experiences, to be treated with sensitivity and confidentiality, with trauma support available. She will provide an interim report midyear and final recommendations in November.
The government has been under intense pressure for weeks after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins alleged she was raped by a colleague at Parliament House.
Higgins is in a dispute with her former employer – the defence minister, Linda Reynolds – who has apologised for calling her a “lying cow”.
The minister said her words were in response to being criticised for not offering enough support to Higgins, and were not related to the alleged rape.
After Higgins’ lawyers sent a letter threatening to sue Reynolds, she issued a fresh statement apologising for the remarks.
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