Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says the cabinet minister accused of a 1988 rape should make a public statement because he owes it to the government and the people to answer the claim against him.
Mr Turnbull said the minister’s identity was so widely known that it was untenable for him to remain silent on the allegation of “horrific rape” three decades ago.
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.Credit:James Brickwood
“The fact is he owes it to his colleagues and the country to step out, step forward to say, right, ‘I’m the person referred to’ and then set out all the details,” he said.
The call challenges Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his argument on Monday that the cabinet minister had denied the claim and that it was a matter for the police rather than a wider inquiry.
“We can’t have a situation where the mere making of an allegation, and that being publicised through the media, is grounds for governments to stand people down,” Mr Morrison said.
Mr Turnbull did not say the minister should step aside or resign but argued he should reveal himself and answer the claim in public.
The woman who alleged the rape took her claim to the NSW Police in February last year, but the state investigation stopped in June when she took her own life.
The South Australian Police is investigating the woman’s death in her home city of Adelaide on behalf of the state coroner. There is no public timeframe on that process, and the coroner is not yet considering whether to hold an inquest.
“The coroner can confirm the matter is under investigation,” said a spokeswoman for the coroner.
In a suggestion not made by others aware of the case, Mr Turnbull raised questions over whether the woman took her own life.
“We don’t know for sure that she took her own life, we know for sure that she’s dead. And there needs to be an inquest,” he told ABC Radio National on Tuesday morning.
NSW Police said last Friday it had set up a strike force into the woman’s allegation, but she had not signed a formal statement before her death.
“After strike force investigators were advised that the body of a 49-year-old woman was located at a home at Adelaide by South Australia Police on Wednesday 24 June 2020, the investigation was suspended,” the police said.
Asked about giving the minister natural justice, Mr Turnbull said it was “fine to say that” but the rape claim was a grave allegation.
Mr Turnbull said the minister should adopt the same approach taken by media magnate Kerry Packer in 1985 when he was accused, as the “goanna” rather than by his real name, of being involved in crime. Mr Turnbull was Mr Packer’s lawyer at the time and advised him to go public to fight the claims.
“Until such time as the minister is able to present a comprehensive and compelling exculpation of himself, it is impossible for him to function in that cabinet,” Mr Turnbull said.
“I mean, are we seriously going to have a question time where the opposition asks every single minister whether they are the person named in the complaint? Ask the Prime Minister who the minister is? And you’re just going to get one stonewalling response after another.
“It’s just not tenable. They have to do what Packer did. This minister has to have the courage Kerry Packer did in 1995 to out himself and provide a comprehensive response.”
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has not called for the minister to step aside or for an independent inquiry. Parliament is due to resume on March 15 and no member has said so far that he or she will name the cabinet minister, although Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has signalled it could be an option.
The cabinet minister’s press secretary has declined to respond to questions since Friday, when the ABC revealed an anonymous letter with the rape accusation.
David Crowe is chief political correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
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2021-03-01 22:10:13Z
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