Minister to go public on rape claim

The federal cabinet minister accused of a decades-old rape is preparing to make a public statement today to declare his innocence after NSW police closed their investigation because they did not have enough admissible evidence.

The minister has spoken to others about going public after widespread conjecture about his identity and allegations made to police last year by a woman about a rape in Sydney in January 1988.

The cabinet minister has also sought legal advice on defamation after days of claims about him on social media and a comment from former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull that he must go public because ‘‘everybody knows’’ who he is.

The move, described as ‘‘likely’’ by sources within the government, would have a parallel with a similar move by former Labor leader Bill Shorten in August 2014 when Victoria Police closed an investigation into him over an allegation of rape in the 1980s. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has defended his minister, saying the man denied the rape allegation in a meeting last Wednesday, and is rejecting calls for a further inquiry when police have found the evidence is inadequate.

Mr Morrison and senior colleagues plan to back the cabinet minister in the wake of his statement, and it is expected that they will point to the fact that Mr Shorten did not step aside during the Victorian investigation and did not face calls for a further inquiry after the police closed the case.

But federal crossbenchers joined a chorus of calls for an independent inquiry into the cabinet minister after a furious debate over whether he should stand aside and answer the claims in public.

Independent MP Zali Steggall said the NSW Police decision should not be the end of the matter because the allegations were so serious, saying one precedent was the High Court inquiry into sexual harassment claims against former judge Dyson Heydon. ‘‘There needs to be a balance here for the public to feel that justice is done and at the same time to make sure the person’s reputation is not needlessly trashed unless there is a case to answer,’’ said Ms Steggall.

‘‘I don’t think that ignoring it makes it go away.’’

Helen Haines, the independent MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, said the conjecture was so intense that the cabinet was being compromised. ‘‘The nation will be best served if the minister makes a public statement,’’ she said.

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie said the minister should ‘‘suck it up’’ and make a public statement. ‘‘Every man and his dog knows [who it is] so he’s only digging his hole deeper,’’ she said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has not called for the cabinet minister to step aside or face an independent inquiry, saying the decision was up to Mr Morrison.

The strong views on the crossbench have raised the prospect that someone would name the minister in Parliament when it resumes on March 15, setting a deadline for the government.

‘‘The accused minister knows who he is, the entire Parliament knows who he is,’’ said Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young.

‘‘If he is innocent he should step forward and declare it. The integrity of his ministry and the entire government is now in question while he remains in hiding with such a grave allegation levelled against him.’’

Senator Hanson-Young was one of several politicians – including Mr Morrison, Labor Senator Penny Wong and Liberal MP Celia Hammond – who received an anonymous letter last week detailing the woman’s claims.

A public statement by the cabinet minister would seek to follow the precedent set by Mr Shorten when he stood alongside his wife, Chloe, and announced in August 2014 that Victoria Police had closed its investigation. ‘‘I will not go into details, except to say the allegation was untrue and abhorrent,’’ Mr Shorten said at the time.

The Labor deputy leader at that time, Tanya Plibersek, said Mr Shorten ‘‘could’ve carried on without ever expressing the fact’’ the report was about him, and she said his statement would ‘‘draw a line’’ under the matter.

The woman who alleged the cabinet minister raped her made her claim to the NSW Police in February last year, but the state investigation was suspended in June when she took her own life.

With claims about the case being referred to federal and state police, NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller sought legal guidance on the investigation and received formal advice it could not continue.

NSW Police said the woman ‘‘did not detail her allegations in a formal statement’’ last year. ‘‘Based on information provided to NSW Police, there is insufficient admissible evidence to proceed. As such, NSW Police Force has determined the matter is now closed.’’