Christian Porter’s rape accuser requested to make statement

Christian Porter’s rape accuser requested to make a formal statement to NSW Police on Skype in April last year.

Former attorney-general Christian Porter seen outside the Supreme Court in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

NSW Police have revealed the woman who alleged she was raped by Christian Porter requested to make a formal statement on Skype during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 1, 2020 the alleged victim requested that she commence her statement by way of Skype due to her inability to travel to Sydney from Adelaide due to border restrictions.

The next day, investigators consulted with the woman via teleconference and presented her with options on how she could proceed with the allegations and launch a formal statement.

In new answers to questions on notice to NSW Parliament, NSW Police have confirmed the woman made two telephone calls to investigators which were not immediately answered, but returned within seven minutes and five hours and 26 minutes respectively.

NSW Police said they made approximately six telephone calls to the alleged victim which were unanswered.

Almost three months later, the woman reportedly told NSW Police that she no longer wanted to proceed with the report which related to an alleged incident at a Sydney debating conference in 1988.

She died by suicide at home 24 hours later.

Mr Porter has emphatically denied the allegations, and has launched a defamation case against the ABC about its reporting of the historic rape allegation against him after the public broadcaster published an anonymous letter sent to the Prime Minister about a Cabinet minister.

NSW Police said: “A joint decision by all parties was made not to conduct the interview remotely. There were a number of reasons which led to this decision. The victim was understanding and supportive of this decision.”

Police said they did not interview Mr Porter in light of the allegations, as per standard protocol not to proceed with an investigation in absence of a formal statement from the accuser.

“It is current standard practice that once a signed victim statement from a victim and further corroborative enquiries are made, the formal allegation can and should be put to the person of interest as per procedural fairness principles for investigators,” NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said.

“The victim clearly communicated to investigators that she no longer felt able to proceed with the report. The NSWPF did not have a signed statement from the victim, hence no formal allegation to put to the person of interest. In keeping with the victim’s wishes no further investigation took place and the person of interest was not interviewed.”

NSW Labor MP Lynda Voltz says the new information raises questions about the handling of the case by police.

“It is clear from the answers that there was a request made to NSW Police to take a formal statement remotely by the victim after the NSW Police had cancelled travelling to South Australia to take her statement themselves,” Ms Voltz said.

“I am advised it would have been entirely possible to do this remotely. The NSW Police need to explain how after the victim made this request, and upon talking to them, they arrived at a joint decision not to conduct the interview remotely.”

The woman’s friends have called for an independent inquiry into her allegations, as well as her parents who have said they would support any inquiry that could shed light into the circumstances of her death.

She took her own life while isolating in Adelaide in June due to COVID-19 restrictions after being discharged from a mental health centre in Melbourne.

She had told many people about her alleged rape, including politicians, in the two years leading up to her death.