Content warning: this article discusses sexual assault and violence and may be distressing to some readers. If you are experiencing sexual abuse or other unwanted behaviour, please contact Rape & Domestic Violence Services Australia.
Christian Porter has come forward as the cabinet minister facing a rape accusation. The alleged victim, who sadly took her own life in June 2020, claimed the rape occurred in January 1988 in Sydney.
At a press conference earlier this week, Porter categorically denied the historical rape allegation against him.
Porter claimed that he and the woman only knew each other for “the briefest periods at debating competitions when we were teenagers”. Moreover, Porter twice suggested he had not seen the woman since 1988 “to the best of my recollection.”
This, however, contradicts the now deceased woman’s statement. In her statement, she claims had dinner with Porter in Perth in 1994.
What does the woman’s account about Christian Porter state?
Guardian Australia shared that they have seen a copy of the letter as well as a copy of a statement from the woman prepared for police. Katharine Murphy, the publication’s political editor summarised the contents of the statement:
“The woman’s statement says she first met the man who went on to serve as a cabinet minister in 1986. They met again the following year. The alleged assault is said to have occurred in January 1988 in Sydney, when both were teenagers.
Recounting the events leading up to the alleged assault, the woman says she ironed a shirt for the now cabinet minister in preparation for an event. He is alleged to have said to her that she “would make someone a wonderful wife one day” because she was “so smart and so pretty” and could do the “good housewife things”. According to the statement, the young man is said to have flagged interest in a career in politics, and an aspiration to be prime minister.
The statement also suggests the young man had made lewd comments about her body prior to the incident, including a negative reference about the size of her breasts.
The woman says she agreed to a non-penetrative sexual act at the man’s request after an evening out in Sydney before alleging that the now minister sexually assaulted her more than once later that evening. The details recounted in the woman’s statement are graphic.
The woman says in her statement that she was very drunk when she was assaulted, and felt “dizzy”.
She says the man helped her clean up afterwards, including washing her body and her hair. She says she was “deeply shocked and ashamed” in the aftermath, and told nobody about what had happened.”
At this stage, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has refuted the calls for an independent inquiry into the alleged rape Christian Porter is accused of.
Both friends and family of the deceased, as well as a number of senior figures within Australian politics have supported such an inquiry.
Labor’s Anthony Albanese, Penny Wong and Tanya Plibersek have said that an independent investigation is necessary in order to ensure Australians can retain confidence in the attorney general. It’s a sentiment echoed by Greens party members and independents.
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