Audio, letters emerge in historic rape allegations against federal MP

A woman who claimed she was raped in 1988 by a now federal minister wrote to a friend saying she feared a trial would become an “emotional bloodbath”.

A woman who claimed she was raped by a current federal minister left behind a trove of emails, letters and other correspondence.

A woman who claimed she was raped in 1988 by a current federal minister left behind a trove of emails, letters and other correspondence before taking her own life in Adelaide last year, it has emerged.

A 45-minute recording of the woman talking about the allegations also exists.

The Herald Sun has ­obtained the audio but has chosen not to publish it.

In one letter provided by a friend of the woman, she wrote of her hope that the man would be prosecuted but also feared a trial would become an “emotional bloodbath”.

“I appreciate that it is still a long way off, and, as you wrote, ultimately a matter for the DPP,’’ she wrote.

“I guess I just worry that a trial (if one occurs) has the ­potential to be an emotional bloodbath, particularly for me and anyone who appears as a witness in the case.”

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese on Sunday called on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to ­ensure the historical rape claim made against one of his ministers was properly investigated to avoid a “dark cloud” hanging over his cabinet.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said an ­inquest on the woman who ­alleged she was raped by the minister in 1988 would be­ ­appropriate, ­revealing he had corresponded with her after he left office.

It comes as the federal government prepares this week to release the terms and scope of an independent inquiry into cultural issues in Parliament House and political offices.

Allegations of the rape by a minister before he entered politics sent shockwaves through parliament after anonymous letters detailing the claim were sent to the Prime Minister, Labor senator Penny Wong and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

The alleged victim died by suicide in June last after making a report to NSW police earlier that year.

The case has since been r­eferred to the AFP.

On Sunday, former Liberal staffer Dhanya Mani, who was a friend of the woman, told Sky her friend would not have wanted her story to be told the way it had been.

“She would not want for her family to be re-traumatised, which is what is happening right now,” Ms Mani said.

Mr Turnbull said the ­woman wrote to him in 2019 to ask for advice, adding: “She ­described a pretty horrific rape that she said had occurred at the hands of this person”.

He said the woman told him she kept “extensive diaries”.

Mr Albanese said: “This now will be a very much a dark cloud over the parliament and over the cabinet.”

The allegations came less than a fortnight after former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins claimed she was raped in 2019 in then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds’s office.

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