Australia rocked by rape allegation against minister, in test for PM Scott Morrison
- Police received a complaint about an alleged 1980s sexual assault involving a current cabinet minister. The alleged victim died by suicide last year
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is already under pressure over the mistreatment of women at Parliament House
The Australian Federal Police said at the weekend it had received a complaint in relation to a historic sexual assault and would be liaising with relevant state authorities. The alleged victim killed herself in June last year and details of the claims have been sent by her friends to two senators and the prime minister’s office.
Morrison said he forwarded the letter to police and discussed the allegation with the federal police commissioner. Morrison said he did not intend to take any further action.
“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 simply on the basis of that,” Morrison said.
Morrison was already under pressure over the workplace culture at Parliament House after a former government media adviser said last month that after a night of drinking with colleagues in 2019 she was raped by a fellow staffer in a minister’s office.
Several female lawmakers have complained about a male-dominated and disempowering culture in the national capital, Canberra.
