Australia premier stands by minister accused over rape

AUSTRALIA’S PRIME Minister Scott Morrison yesterday expressed support for his attorneygeneral, who this week denied accusations he raped a schoolgirl when he was a teenager. Mr Morrison, inset, told reporters Australia must follow the rule of law and the presumption of innocence in the matter, after police concluded there was insufficient evidence to investigate MP Christian Porter, a 50-year-old former prosecutor. The woman who accused Mr Porter died by suicide last year after she had gone to police and then later withdrawn her complaint. Her accusation against Mr Porter became public last week after being sent anonymously to Mr Morrison and other politicians. The case has intensified scrutiny of the culture in Parliament, where a staff member two weeks ago made an unrelated claim that she was raped by a senior colleague. In the latest case, Mr Morrison said his heart broke for the woman’s family, who lost a loved one. “These are harrowing events,” he said. But he said Mr Porter had absolutely rejected the allegations and Australia must follow the law. “You will be aware of the terrible things that can happen in a country where the rule of law is not upheld and is not supported, in whatever the circumstances,” Mr Morrison said. “The rule of law is essential for liberal democracies, and we weaken it at our great peril.” Prominent lawyers and the woman’s friends have called for an independent inquiry to test the evidence against Mr Porter, while some opposition MPs say the allegations are serious and credible. But Mr Morrison said police were the authorised authorities to make judgments about the case, and “that’s where the matter rests”. On Wednesday, Mr Porter held an emotional press conference in which he said he would not quit his job. “If I stand down from my position as attorney-general because of an allegation about something that simply did not happen, then any person in Australia can lose their career, their job, their life’s work based on nothing more than an accusation that appears in print,” Mr Porter said. The allegations date back more than three decades, when Mr Porter was 17 and his accuser was 16, and they competed alongside each other on a four-member school debate team.