Calls grow for Christian Porter probe after minister drops defamation suit against ABC
Calls are mounting for a probe into the Christian Porter allegation after a big development in his stoush with the ABC.
Calls are mounting for an independent inquiry into the Christian Porter rape allegation after the former attorney-general dropped his defamation case against the ABC.
Mr Porter confirmed on Monday that he would not proceed with the action, launched three months ago, insisting he would contest the next election.
Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles said the development meant the “cloud” hanging over Mr Porter had not been lifted, demanding Prime Minister Scott Morrison launch an independent probe into the matter.
“The government was touting this (defamation suit) as the means by which there would be some form of independent inquiry,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“At the end of the day there Christian Porter is not a private citizen, he’s a member of the Australian cabinet.
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“They’re very serious allegations. There is a cloud there, which should be resolved for everyone concerned, not the least of whom is Christian Porter himself.
“Again, Scott Morrison needs to act.”
The woman reported the alleged rape to NSW Police in 2019 but dropped her complaint the day before taking her own life in 2020. She would not pursue the matter in 2019, a day before taking her own life.
NSW Police subsequently did not pursue an investigation into the matter, citing “insufficient admissible evidence”, and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham said the matter should end there.
“We have independent police forces, independent courts and they’re the places that such allegations would be determined,” he told Sky News on Tuesday.
“There have not been grounds for any other changing approach, aside from backing the independence of our police forces and the independence of our courts.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison in March said he would “not indulge” an independent inquiry, which he argued would establish a two-tier legal system.
“There is not a separate legal process that applies to the Attorney-General or anyone else. There’s only one rule of law here,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to indulge in other extrajudicial processes that suggest that one Australian is subject to a different legal process to any other Australian.”
Mr Porter launched the suit over an online article, which did not name him, centred on a historical rape allegation about the former attorney-general.
Mr Porter vigorously denies the allegation.
The parties agreed no damages would be paid, but the ABC would cover the cost of mediation.
Mr Porter on Monday claimed the result was a “humiliating backdown” for the broadcaster “no matter what way they try to spin it”.
“The question becomes for the ABC is: How do you stand by reporting that you have acknowledged in a settlement, that you were forced into, that you regret?” he said.
In response, the ABC said it did not accept the article suggested the former attorney-general’s guilt but regretted that “some readers misinterpreted the article as an accusation of guilt against Mr Porter”.
The broadcaster flatly rejected suggestions it regretted the article, which remained online with an editor’s note added, and stood by its importance.
“The article was not sensationalist. It was an accurate and factual report on a letter that had been sent to the Prime Minister and two other senior politicians,” it said in a statement.