An allegation of the brutal anal rape of a child in 1988 has been made against an un-named minister in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s cabinet.
The victim took her own life in June 2020. NSW police have confirmed that a criminal investigation into the allegation dies with the victim.
Despite their knowledge that police will not investigate because the complainant is dead, government ministers and some journalists continue to claim that the matter must be left to the police.
All of them are wrong, according to police.
Morrison said that he has referred the allegations to police.
Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, yesterday said the accused minister will not be stood aside, and that the matter should be left to police.
(It is puzzling that Birmingham is commenting on this. It would seem to be more appropriately the job of senior lawmaker Attorney-General Christian Porter, who has thus far remained silent.)
On ABC Insiders program this morning, Australian Financial Review journalist Phil Coorey repeated the government line. “This is for the coppers,” he stated, “and it should be for the coppers first and foremost.”
This seems at first blush to be wilful ignorance, gross carelessness, the peddling of misinformation, or an attempt to yet again create and control a narrative that best favours the government.
The accused minister has not come forward to defend himself against the allegations. It is not credible that anyone who is innocent would want to continue public life with accusations such as these left unaddressed, and yet, that appears to be the case.
It is also only a matter of time until the suspect is named. There appears to be no legal requirement to suppress his name, particularly as there will be no trial. He can also be named under parliamentary privilege. It is undoubtedly in the public interest for his name to be released, and were he anyone other than a Liberal cabinet minister, he would not probably not be protected by anonymity. Footballers, for example, are stood aside while allegations of sexual assault are investigated, and they are named. Not so much cabinet ministers, it appears.
It is also remarkable that the accused minister appears to be happy for his cabinet colleagues to be tainted by the rape allegations. As long as we do not know who the minister is, there are around sixteen possibilities in the cabinet. Every time a cabinet minister opens his mouth we can legitimately ask, are you the alleged child rapist? This can’t help but have a destabilising effect on the government, as its already tenuous legitimacy is further eroded by the presence of an anonymous alleged rapist in its highest ranks.
Then there is the question of national security, a subject close to the hearts of both Morrison, and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, also a cabinet member. In 2017 when Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister, he had occasion to warn Christian Porter, prior to making him Attorney-General, that his drinking and his behaviours towards young women were leaving him open to the possibility of compromise, making him a security risk:
“…it is just not acceptable. And he knew that I was considering appointing him attorney general, which of course is the first law officer of the crown, and has a seat on the national security committee, so the risk of compromise is very, very real.”
By the same token, one may conclude that an anonymous cabinet minister who is accused of the brutal anal rape of a child might well be a prime target for blackmail, and is a serious security risk.
Indeed, everyone in the cabinet who is aware of and concealing the alleged rapist’s identity is a security risk, and vulnerable to exploitation.
Is this government even tenable while this matter is “left to the coppers?”
It is alarming that Morrison seems oblivious to the security dangers the situation presents. It’s even more alarming that Morrison seems entirely impervious to the immorality of protecting and hiding an alleged child rapist.
The hideous situation has come to light just days after the government spectacularly failed to cope with the alleged rape of media advisor, Brittany Higgins, in Parliament House just metres from the Prime Minister’s office.
Ms Higgins was left unconscious and half naked by her attacker on Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ couch. This could have cost Ms Higgins her life, as she was inebriated and unable to care for herself. Security guards “checked on” Ms Higgins through the night, but nobody called for medical assistance. At least thirty people, including ministers, the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office most senior staff knew about this “serious incident,” and none of them informed the Prime Minister until two years later.
The Morrison government is a sewer. It is steeped in allegations of rape and sexual assault of the most serious and sickening kind. It is almost certain that Morrison will attempt to brazen out this latest allegation. He will not stand the minister aside, and he will continue to contend that it is a matter for police, in full knowledge that the police cannot pursue criminal charges.
The minister will not be investigated by police. He will not be exonerated. His name will not be cleared. Suspicion will linger over the heads of all male cabinet members, including Scott Morrison, Christian Porter and Peter Dutton.
We should probably assume that being suspected of the anal rape of a child does not necessarily perturb any of them.
While we know not all cabinet ministers are alleged child rapists, we do not know which one is. The Prime Minister is doing everything possible to conceal that knowledge from us.
How good is that?
No Place For Sheep 
Hi, I have re-posted your latest blog on my blog. I am not sure if that is a breach of protocol – I hope not. Perhaps you could elucidate for me. I thought it was a worthy article, and I wanted it to reach my readers. Anyway, I apologise if I have done the wrong thing. Cheers Mark Buckley
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No problem, Mark, thank you for asking.
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I believe it is time to Hunt down the perpetrator of that shocking sexual assault by a federal government minister back in 1988.
There is no statute of limitations that will permit this serious sexual assault on a minor to escape from the laws that are deemed to protect persons in every community in this land of ours, the sooner litigation is commenced the better for the good of our Australian nation.
There is no prospect that the crime had not been committed, otherwise the verminous lawyers relied on to keep Australia’s Lib/Nat party ministers free from the crimes engaged by those deplorable dishonorable political individuals.
Not since John Winston Howard had been proven guilty to the many treacheries he and his mate Alexander Downer had wantonly engaged in against the best interests of the Australian people.
I for one will not remain mute to their multiple breaches against the tenets held in Australia’s Commonwealth Constitution Act 1900.
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Hunt down the perpetrator? I think this calls for a more Christian approach, william.
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Why did Dr Martin Parkinson retire from his position as Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in August 2019 , 2 years before his contract was due to expire. I would suggest Dr Parkinson decided the Brittany Higgins alleged rape cover up by Scott Morrison was more than he was prepared to accept. The only way to diverse himself from the sewer was to get the hell out of it.
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So… why is it so impossible for there to be provision for investigating a crime after the victim has died, or where they cannot give evidence?
Well, I suppose the main objection to this would centre around “fairness” to the alleged perpetrator – but it would seem to be in the public interest in cases such as this for there to be processes (mainstream ones – not just one-off commissions of inquiry) capable of some sort of official determination on the likelihood of a crime having been committed, on consideration of what evidence remains available. The trial of George Pell is another instance in which this would have been useful.
I’m afraid I’m not much chop as a researcher, but even a quick google seems to indicate that there isn’t much interest in law reform circles on this issue. Not even the child abuse Royal Commission’s Criminal Justice Report touches on it.
But this seems to me that this is preposterous given that it represents yet another, particularly serious inhibitor to the prosecution of sexual crimes.
In the meantime though, yes I agree we have a paralysed government, but we also have a government that has been illegitimate since at least the last Cabinet reshuffle. I’m mindful that whatever happens from now on risks further dishonouring the victim’s experience and wishes, but it would seem the best way for this to be resolved is for the person concerned to declare themselves and stand down, or for the PM to enforce this.
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