Minister has 'vigorously rejected' historical rape allegations, Scott Morrison says
PM will not stand down minister in
question, admitting he was aware of ‘rumours’ of alleged assault earlier this
year
Scott Morrison says the
cabinet minister at the centre of historical rape allegations has “vigorously
rejected” the claims, while admitting he was aware of “rumours” of the alleged
assault earlier this year.
The prime minister has so far
declined to launch an independent inquiry into the allegations, declaring he
was “not a police force”.
While
confirming he had heard rumours of the allegations before the accusation was
put to him formally in a letter last Friday, he said he had not felt the
need to investigate it further.
Morrison
has also said he sees no reason to stand down the accused
minister.
“It is the police, in a
country where you’re governed by the rule of law, that determine the veracity
of any allegations of this nature,” he said at a press conference in Sydney.
“It is the police. My office,
I do not have the people or others who are trained or competent or authorised
to investigate matters of this nature.
“The police are the ones who
do that and the police have had these matters referred to them, the individual
involved here has vigorously rejected these allegations, and so it’s a matter
for the police and in my discussions with the commissioner, there was nothing
immediate that he considered that was necessary for me to take any action.”
Morrison said he had not read
the documents that outlined the allegations, but had been briefed on their
contents.
He said he learned of the
complaint last Wednesday and spoke to the cabinet minister who was named as the
alleged rapist.
“I’m not going to go into the
conversation, simply to tell you I asked,” Morrison said.
“Did I raise it? Yes, I did.
And he vigorously and completely denied the allegations. So that means there is
a proper process now for it to follow.”
Speaking
at a press conference called to discuss the final report of the royal
commission into aged care, released only moments before it began, Morrison appeared
defensive as questions turned to his handling of the rape allegations.
The
historical allegations became public on Friday after two non-government
senators, Labor’s Penny Wong and the Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young, announced
they had received correspondence outlining the historical complaint and had forwarded it to
the Australian federal police.
The woman had spoken to New
South Wales police about her allegations in February 2020 and a task force was
established to investigate, although a formal interview with police was delayed
by the pandemic.
The
woman withdrew her report later that year and killed herself shortly after. As
sexual assault sits on state statutes, the AFP has no jurisdiction over the
allegations, and NSW police can not push forward a sexual assault investigation where the
complainant has died.