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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones. This is 7am.

On Wednesday the federal Attorney-General publicly identified himself as the subject of a rape allegation, an allegation that he denies.

Christian Porter has so far refused to resign, or stand aside. He’s been supported by senior ministers, including the Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.

Archival tape -- Josh Frydenburg:

“Christian really spoke from the heart today, and he gave his version of events. And we do know that there’s only one body that is authorized to deal with such serious matters and that’s the police. The police have spoken and they’ve said that the case is closed.”

RUBY:

Yesterday the Prime Minister also reiterated his support for Porter.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“There is not some other process. There is not the mob process. There is not the ‘tribe has spoken’ process. That’s not how we run the rule of law in Australia. We run the rule of law based on police, on courts, on judicial systems, on rules of evidence, on presumption of innocence.”

RUBY:

Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on how Scott Morrison fought alongside Christian Porter to keep the Attorney-General in his job, and what happens next.

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Paul, we now know that the cabinet minister, who was the subject of a detailed allegation of sexual assault, is in fact Christian Porter, the attorney general, the most senior legal officer in the country.

He spoke at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon and he strenuously denied the allegations. In fact, he said that they had never even been put to him.

But there is a much longer back story to how these accusations first surfaced, Paul, can you tell me about it?

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, the accusations relate to an alleged incident in January 1988 when Porter is accused of raping a 16 year old girl in Sydney. He was 17 at the time. Now, the woman who alleged the rape took place did take the matter to New South Wales police in February of last year, but they were unable to interview her and get a formal statement because she was in Adelaide and they couldn't cross into South Australia because of the COVID border closures.

Then in June of that year, she took her own life.

But the woman had prepared a detailed statement about what she says happened that night back in ‘88. As well as that statement, she also retained extensive diary entries and there was a recorded conversation of her recounting her trauma. As well, there are declarations from a number of her friends.

Now, some of these friends were actually interviewed by the ABC's Four Corners programme for an episode that aired in November last year, looking at the culture of harassment in Parliament House. That episode made a number of allegations about Porter's sexist behaviour, but stopped short of accusing him of the sexual assault.

Now, those contributions from the friends of the woman didn't make the final cut when the ABC's lawyers advised they could run foul of Australia's extremely restrictive defamation laws.

RUBY:

So those allegations, they weren't aired in November last year on Four Corners, but they were published last week, even though Christian Porter wasn't initially identified - it was an unnamed cabinet minister. So what was the catalyst for the publication last week?

PAUL:

Well, the friends were spurred on by the courage of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins to speak out about her alleged rape in the office of another minister by a work colleague.
So they anonymously sent her statement and a dossier to a number of federal politicians, including the prime minister. Their motivation was to seek long denied justice for their friend.

Now, once Morrison was alerted to the letter - it was after cabinet of Wednesday of last week - he spoke to Porter. And when the Attorney-General vigorously denied the rape allegation, they developed a political strategy to respond to the situation.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Interviewer #1:

“What have you heard, if not of substance?”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Only rumours, of uh, of an ABC investigative journalist, um, making some enquiries. That's all I've heard. I didn't know the substance of them.”

PAUL:

Morrison at the presser has said that he'd heard rumours last November, but dismissed them as rumours being checked out by an ABC investigative journalist who was making some enquiry. And he said he tended not to pay attention to rumours. And that was the reference, of course, to the Four Corners programme, which was investigating the allegations against Porter.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Interviewer #2:

“But what was the nature of the info that you became aware of around that time?”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“There were journalists asking questions about a member.”

Archival tape -- Unidentified Interviewer #2:

“In relation to what we now know is this matter?”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“I didn't know that was the matter.”

PAUL:

Scott Morrison admitted at the news conference that he himself hadn't read the 30 page dossier sent to him.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Interviewer #3 :

“Can I just clarify, you haven't actually read through these documents yourself - given the seriousness of these allegations - why haven’t you read through these documents?”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“I'm aware of the contents of them. I've been briefed on the contents of them…”

PAUL:

He also made it crystal clear that he believed Porter's vigorous denials, but he claimed it wasn't up to him to believe or disbelieve them. Rather, it was up to the police.

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“Well, that is a matter for the police. See, I'm not...I’m not the commissioner of Police.”

Archival tape -- Unidentified Interviewer #4:

“Unfortunately it’s not though is it?”

Archival tape -- Scott Morrison:

“No, I'm sorry. It is actually. It is. Allegations of criminal conduct should be dealt with by competent and authorised agencies..”

PAUL:

Anyhow, the police, Ruby, didn't do the job he led us all to believe they would. They didn't complete an investigation into the complaint, nor did they interview anybody. So after shunting off the whole thing to the police, Morrison and Porter had gotten the result they knew was most likely. And that's when Porter decided it was time to speak.

RUBY:

Right. And so, Paul, that takes us to Wednesday afternoon when Christian Porter held this press conference, publicly identifying himself as the person who had been accused and denying those allegations.

PAUL:

Well, that's right, Ruby. And the things he said echoed Scott Morrison's words from two days earlier.

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“Before last Friday, all I can say is that I had heard, I think about November last year, a rumour that was being spread by a small number of people that I had somehow offended against someone decades ago in a way that was never specified to me.”

PAUL:

He said he also heard the rumours and he said he hadn't read the dossier or the detailed allegations.

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“All I know about the allegations is what I’ve read in the media.”

PAUL:

He said he was waiting for the police investigation to conclude before saying anything publicly.

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“Prior to last Friday's story in the ABC, no one in law enforcement or the law, or politics, or the media ever put any substance of any specific allegations to me at all.”

PAUL

This is the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General treating the “rumours” (in inverted commas) with contempt, and hoping that this example inspires the nation to also treat it with contempt.

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“While I have followed the rules and stayed silent, I have been subject to the most wild, intense, unrestrained series of accusations that I can remember in modern Australian politics.”

PAUL:

So when you put what he said alongside the position taken by Morrison, it does start to look very clearly like there was a coordinated political and media strategy designed to protect Porter rather than to assure the nation every step had been taken to buttress the propriety and credibility of the Attorney-General.

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Paul, during Christian Porter's press conference, where he emphatically denied these allegations against him, there were many, many questions from reporters and a lot of those questions went to Christian Porter's future, whether he can remain in his position as Attorney-General. And he seems to think that he can?

PAUL:

Well, the key to this, Ruby, is what happens next. Porter says he's innocent and the Prime Minister is standing by him. But a growing number of political and legal figures are saying that's not good enough.

Archival tape -- Unidentified Commentator #1:

“Until such time as the minister is able to present a comprehensive and compelling exculpation of himself, it is just...it's impossible for him to function in that cabinet…”

PAUL:

Malcolm Turnbull told the ABC it was frankly not good enough for the Prime Minister to say, oh, it's a matter for the police.

Archival tape -- Malcolm Turnbull:

“The Prime Minister said yesterday that he said he is the Prime Minister. Well, he is the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister cannot outsource his responsibility for composing his ministry to the police.”

PAUL:

He called for there to be an inquiry. And Pauline Wright, the former president of the Law Council of Australia and current president of the New South Wales Council of Civil Liberties, told RN’s Breakfast programme that she also believed it was time for an inquiry.

Archival tape -- Pauline Wright:

“Independent investigations are routinely carried out within government departments and corporations and in the business world to get to the bottom of allegations where improper conduct is alleged. Similarly, in professional organisations, if you're a lawyer then and somebody makes a complaint about your conduct, you know, an inquiry can be made into whether you're a fit and proper person to continue to hold your role as a professional. And the same should be really expected here.”

PAUL:

But at his press conference on Wednesday, Christian Porter pushed back against any such inquiry. He said he'd be required to disprove something he insists simply didn't happen.

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“What would I say in front of that inquiry? What would that inquiry ask me to do? To disprove something that didn't happen 33 years ago? And I, I honestly don't know what I would say to that…”

PAUL:

And on top of that, he's refusing to resign because he said if he did:

Archival tape -- Christian Porter:

“...then any person in Australia can lose their career, their job, their life’s work, based on nothing more than an accusation that appears in print.”

PAUL:

And he added, there'd be no need for an Attorney-General because there'd be no rule of law left in this country.

RUBY

Right. So Christian Porter is saying that he doesn't intend to stand down and he's also pushing back against any kind of independent inquiry into the allegations. Do you think that this is a position that can hold? I can't help but think that this would play out very differently in other organisations if this happened in a business context or a sporting context. You do often see people who have been accused of something standing aside while allegations are independently investigated. And we're talking about the Attorney-General of the country here, so do you think that it is tenable for him to resist this?

PAUL:

Ruby, it's not tenable. This is not merely malicious scuttlebutt. There are serious allegations against the Attorney-General, the first law officer of the land, as you say, and the nation deserves more assurances.
I think we saw at the National Press Club on Wednesday, Grace Tame, the Australian of the Year, in a very emotional and heartfelt speech about the need for women to speak out and to be heard. I think this shows that we've reached a ‘Me Too’ moment in Australian politics and it's a moment that the men in Australia will ignore at their own peril.

RUBY:

Mm. And Christian Porter's defence is basically ‘I didn't do it and you should take my word for that’, but do you think that that is compelling enough? Who is he trying to persuade?

PAUL:

Well, Porter’s basically asking the nation to take him on trust. He says, I am Christian Porter. I'm the Attorney-General. I say it didn't happen. You’ve got to believe me.

RUBY:

And so where does all of this go from here, Paul? Because if Christian Porter does come back, it doesn't seem like these allegations and all of the intensity around them will just disappear.

PAUL:

Well, that's exactly right. And really, it seems the only way to deal with the issue is to initiate a properly constituted enquiry led by an eminent, unbiased judicial figure who would be guided by the presumption of innocence in weighing up the evidence and claims put before them.

And Ruby I think not only would this be the right thing to do, but there's also evidence there's a political cost to the government if it doesn't act differently.

There was a poll released this week that served as an ominous warning for the Morrison government. The poll by Essential Research picked up a double-digit deterioration in a number of the prime minister's leadership attributes and approval of them. That deterioration, according to the pollster, has been wholly driven by perceptions of female voters.

And the same poll found that two thirds of Australian voters think the government is more interested in protecting itself than women. And after the events of the last few weeks, particularly the last few days, could you really argue otherwise?

RUBY:

Paul, thank you for your time today.

PAUL:

Thank you, Ruby, bye.

RUBY:

If this episode has raised any issues for you, you can call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732, or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today:

Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has refused to deny news reports that she called her former staffer and alleged rape victim Brittany Higgins a ‘lying cow’.

According to the reports Reyolds made the remarks in front of other staff members after Higgins went public about allegedly being raped in the defence minister’s office.

In a statement Reynolds acknowledged making ‘some’ remarks at the time, but said they related to news reports she believed misrepresented her.

Brittany Higgins said that the comments were incredibly hurtful and further evidence of a toxic workplace culture in Parliament House.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. It’s produced by Ruby Schwartz, Elle Marsh, Atticus Bastow, Michelle Macklem, and Cinnamon Nippard.

Brian Campeau mixes the show. Our editor is Osman Faruqi. Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief.

Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

New episodes of 7am are released every weekday morning. Subscribe in your favourite podcast app, to make sure you don’t miss out.

I’m Ruby Jones. See ya next week.