Media Coverage: The New Daily
Pressure is mounting on the cabinet minister at the centre of a historic rape allegation to step down and for a judicial inquiry into the claims.
The accused minister, who emphatically denies all allegations, is expected to make a public statement on Wednesday and repeated his staunch denial of the brutal assault.
Pressure is building on Prime Minister Scott Morrison to establish a judicial inquiry into claims the man raped a 16-year-old girl in 1988. The woman at the centre of the accusations died in 2020.
Lawyer Michael Bradley, who represented the woman, said it was no longer a criminal matter.
“We have a senior cabinet minister who’s been accused of a grave crime and that calls into question his integrity and, at the moment, the integrity of the whole cabinet,” he told the Seven Network on Wednesday.
Mr Bradley believes the minister should step down while an independent inquiry looks at the allegation.
NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Pauline Wright said independent inquiries were routinely conducted in government and corporate settings.
She said any investigation would need to ensure the minister received a fair hearing.
“The Australian people deserve to have it got to the bottom of. There needs to be some kind of investigation into this,” Ms Wright told ABC radio.
