Australia's attorney general denies rape allegation

This article is more than 12 months old

Mar 04, 2021 06:00 am

PERTH: Australia's attorney-general said he is the unnamed Cabinet minister accused of raping a then 16-year-old girl, denying the decades-old allegation yesterday.

The government's top lawyer and former state prosecutor Christian Porter tearfully denied wrongdoing, saying "what is being alleged did not happen".

He is accused of raping a fellow student in 1988 while they attended a debating competition at the University of Sydney.

Mr Porter, 50, insisted he would not step down, but would take a few "short weeks" off to deal with the mental strain caused by the allegations, while reportedly hiring a top defamation lawyer.

Mr Porter was forced to come forward after senior lawmakers received a dossier setting out the claims of the alleged victim, who died last year without making a police report.

Her death is reported to be from suicide. - AFP