Australian Attorney General Christian Porter comes forward to deny historical rape allegation

CNN

By Ben Westcott and Hilary Whiteman, CNN
Attorney General Christian Porter speaks during a media conference on March 3 in Perth, Australia. Via CNN

(CNN)Attorney General Christian Porter has outed himself as the Australian cabinet minister at the center of a historical rape allegation that has caused a storm of speculation in the nation's Parliament.

Speaking at a press conference in Perth Wednesday, Porter strongly denied the allegations made against him. "Nothing in the allegations that have been printed ever happened. Even now, the only information I have about the allegations is what has been circulating online," he said.

On Tuesday, New South Wales police announced that the investigation into the historic rape allegation was closed, saying that there was "insufficient admissible evidence to proceed."

During the press conference, Porter responded to journalists' questions on the details of the allegation by saying it "just didn't happen."

Porter said he wouldn't be standing down as attorney general, but would be taking "a short period of leave."

"If I stand down from my position ... because of an allegation about something that simply did not happen, then any person in Australia can lose their career, their job, their life's work, based on nothing more than an accusation," he said.

The allegations came to light after statements by the alleged victim were anonymously sent to the Prime Minister's office and two female politicians from the opposition Labor and Green parties in the past week.

Publish : 2021-03-03 12:56:00

Give Your Comments