The Morrison government is a sewer

February 28, 2021 Dr Jennifer Wilson Politics 122

Image from The Australian

An allegation of the brutal anal rape of a child in 1988 has been made against an un-named minister in Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s cabinet.

The victim took her own life in June 2020. NSW police have confirmed that a criminal investigation into the allegation dies with the victim.

Despite their knowledge that police will not investigate because the complainant is dead, government ministers and some journalists continue to claim that the matter must be left to the police.

All of them are wrong, according to police.

 

 

Morrison said that he has referred the allegations to police.

Simon Birmingham, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, yesterday said the accused minister will not be stood aside, and that the matter should be left to police.

(It is puzzling that Birmingham is commenting on this. It would seem to be more appropriately the job of senior lawmaker Attorney-General Christian Porter, who has thus far remained silent.)

On ABC Insiders program this morning, Australian Financial Review journalist Phil Coorey repeated the government line. “This is for the coppers,” he stated, “and it should be for the coppers first and foremost.”

This seems at first blush to be wilful ignorance, gross carelessness, the peddling of misinformation, or an attempt to yet again create and control a narrative that best favours the government.

The accused minister has not come forward to defend himself against the allegations. It is not credible that anyone who is innocent would want to continue public life with accusations such as these left unaddressed, and yet, that appears to be the case.

It is also only a matter of time until the suspect is named. There appears to be no legal requirement to suppress his name, particularly as there will be no trial. He can also be named under parliamentary privilege. It is undoubtedly in the public interest for his name to be released, and were he anyone other than a Liberal cabinet minister, he would not probably not be protected by anonymity. Footballers, for example, are stood aside while allegations of sexual assault are investigated, and they are named. Not so much cabinet ministers, it appears.

It is also remarkable that the accused minister appears to be happy for his cabinet colleagues to be tainted by the rape allegations. As long as we do not know who the minister is, there are around sixteen possibilities in the cabinet. Every time a cabinet minister opens his mouth we can legitimately ask, are you the alleged child rapist? This can’t help but have a destabilising effect on the government, as its already tenuous legitimacy is further eroded by the presence of an anonymous alleged rapist in its highest ranks.

 

 

Then there is the question of national security, a subject close to the hearts of both Morrison, and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, also a cabinet member. In 2017 when Malcolm Turnbull was Prime Minister, he had occasion to warn Christian Porter, prior to making him Attorney-General, that his drinking and his behaviours towards young women were leaving him open to the possibility of compromise, making him a security risk:

“…it is just not acceptable. And he knew that I was considering appointing him attorney general, which of course is the first law officer of the crown, and has a seat on the national security committee, so the risk of compromise is very, very real.”

By the same token, one may conclude that an anonymous cabinet minister who is accused of the brutal anal rape of a child might well be a prime target for blackmail, and is a serious security risk.

Indeed, everyone in the cabinet who is aware of and concealing the alleged rapist’s identity is a security risk, and vulnerable to exploitation.

Is this government even tenable while this matter is “left to the coppers?”

It is alarming that Morrison seems oblivious to the security dangers the situation presents. It’s even more alarming that Morrison seems entirely impervious to the immorality of protecting and hiding an alleged child rapist.

The hideous situation has come to light just days after the government spectacularly failed to cope with the alleged rape of media advisor, Brittany Higgins, in Parliament House just metres from the Prime Minister’s office.

Ms Higgins was left unconscious and half naked by her attacker on Defence Minister Linda Reynolds’ couch. This could have cost Ms Higgins her life, as she was inebriated and unable to care for herself. Security guards “checked on” Ms Higgins through the night, but nobody called for medical assistance. At least thirty people, including ministers, the Speaker of the House, the President of the Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office most senior staff knew about this “serious incident,” and none of them informed the Prime Minister until two years later.

The Morrison government is a sewer. It is steeped in allegations of rape and sexual assault of the most serious and sickening kind. It is almost certain that Morrison will attempt to brazen out this latest allegation. He will not stand the minister aside, and he will continue to contend that it is a matter for police, in full knowledge that the police cannot pursue criminal charges.

The minister will not be investigated by police. He will not be exonerated. His name will not be cleared. Suspicion will linger over the heads of all male cabinet members, including Scott Morrison, Christian Porter and Peter Dutton.

We should probably assume that being suspected of the anal rape of a child does not necessarily perturb any of them.

While we know not all cabinet ministers are alleged child rapists, we do not know which one is. The Prime Minister is doing everything possible to conceal that knowledge from us.

How good is that?

 

This article was originally published on No Place For Sheep.

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Post Views: 1,389
About Dr Jennifer Wilson 229 Articles
Jennifer, who has a PhD, has worked as an academic and a scholar, but now works at little of both her careers. She has published short stories in several anthologies, academic papers and book chapters, frequently on the topic of human rights. Her interests and writing are wide ranging, including cultural analysis. Jennifer has written for On Line Opinion, Suite 101 and ABC’s Drum Unleashed. Jennifer is well-known for her long-running blog No Place for Sheep: an eclectic blog that covers politics, society, satire, fiction and fun stuff.

122 Comments

  1. Anyone publicly naming the alleged perpetrator is unlikely given our defamation laws. But come on – any amateur sleuth should be able to deduce the likely identity based on the age of the victim, the ages of the Cabinet Ministers (anyone born after 1974 would be out of the frame as likely would those born before 1960 given the age of the victim).

    Which state police are investigating will tell you where the offence was likely committed or the offender is/was domiciled. And where were each of the usual suspects at the material time?

    Process of elimination. And don’t forget the dog that didn’t bark.

  3. One thing that confuses me…

    According to reports, it was security guards who let Ms Higgins and the alleged perpetrator into the minister’s office. The accused was then supposedly sacked for a ‘security breach’. Why weren’t Ms Higgins and the security guards also in trouble for the ‘security breach’? Or did EVERYONE actually know it was a rape and just wanted to move the guy on quick when it looked like the woman might make a fuss?

  4. If he had killed her the police investigation would have continued. But because she took her own life mostly perhaps because of this crime, it is dropped . Sounds unreasonable to me . Surely he is still a accessory to her death? Men have to take rape far more seriously , specially when minors are the victims , as we know that children abused by priests carry the trauma to their graves, as she did.

  5. According to reports this poor woman left a detailed letter as to what happened to her .and named the person involved
    Why is this not being investigated because she took her own life.how can a murder be investigated ,a dead man can’t give evidence

  6. Cabinet Ministers and the age they turned in 1988

    The Hon Scott Morrison MP 20
    The Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP 36
    The Hon Michael McCormack MP 24
    The Hon David Littleproud MP 12
    The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP 17
    Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham 14
    The Hon Daniel Tehan MP 20
    The Hon Christian Porter MP 18
    The Hon Greg Hunt MP 23
    The Hon Peter Dutton MP 18
    The Hon Paul Fletcher MP 23
    The Hon Alan Tudge MP 17
    The Hon Keith Pitt MP 19
    The Hon Angus Taylor MP 22
    The Hon Darren Chester MP 21
    The Hon Stuart Robert MP 18

    Please remember defamation laws – probably best not to speculate out loud.

  7. “It is not credible that anyone who is innocent would want to continue public life with accusations such as these left unaddressed, and yet, that appears to be the case.”

    Two things:
    First, this mob have no shame, no conscience and, therefore, no sense of guilt or responsibility.
    Second. As long as no name is attached to the allegation, what need is there for any of them to address it? Given all that they have gotten away with so far, why would they be concerned about an untestable allegation with no possibility of police investigation?

  9. I’ve not been following the alledged sexual crime in detail, Kaye.
    Could you determine for me where the offence is alledged to have occurred and which of these people was in the vicinity at the time?
    It would shorten the list of likely lads somewhat.

  13. He has to be named, to hell with the presumption of innocence. If this was Labor it would be all over the Murdoch press and calls for sacking and gov to step down..

  14. Albanese says he’s heard the rumours of this incident for a while now, Penny Wong first heard in 2019 when the victim approached her,
    Wong helping and advising the woman to approach police, woman suicides last year, one assumption being that she didn’t believe she would get justice if the allegation proves to be true.

    Was this just another boys will be boys, who gives a shit, happened over 30 years ago, move on, nothing to see here happening in the sewer gas bubble of parliament? How many had heard the story, how many involved in the coverup? Do any of these shits have any morals?

    With all of these revelations concerning the “honourable members”, I find my level of disgust peaking and feeling slightly grubby somehow, feeling complicit, feeling ashamed, feeling sick. And fucking angry. Most of us are well aware that there is no bottom of the barrel for this incompetent, foul “government”, but surely this resets the bar so low, so rancidly low that these shits must be held accountable. This conversation cannot die. Women demand far better than the bullshit spewed by morrison & co.

  15. Kaye, my first post was moderated out. I mentioned one person that was in a Sydney Uni in 1988.
    There are a few more that attended Sydney Uni in 1988.
    Out of your above list, who else attended Sydney?

  16. Kaye Lee, as a hypothetical,who on the above list were staffers in NSW in 1988?? Has the Liar finally found himself caught between a lie and a dead end? The apes of the LNP have already started to fling shit around the Canberra zoo aimed chiefly at Labor,the predictable response.

  17. Just a reminder from 2014…..

    Yesterday Mr Shorten went public about rape allegations against him (made a few months ago on Facebook) dating back to the 1980s.

    Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek said Mr Shorten had made a gutsy decision to speak out.

    “Bill didn’t need to address this at all, he was not named in the original report,” she said.

    Coalition frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull has also backed Mr Shorten’s decision to go public.

    “It is very, very painful to feel that you are the subject of an unjust accusation,” he told Channel Nine.

    Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “When something like that is swirling around in the ether sometimes it’s best to deal with [it] openly.”

    Liberal senator Michaelia Cash praised Mr Shorten for speaking out.

  18. Senator Sarah Henderson has just issued a media statement that she has forwarded an email to the AFP she received from a woman alleging that she’d been raped by a man who is now a Federal Labor Member of Parliament.

    Convenient timing.

  19. I think that was the year named in the accusation against Bill Shorten which has already been investigated and dismissed by police. Henderson will look awfully silly if she’s bringing that up again after Cash said “as far as I’m concerned I don’t believe my colleagues or I will be making any further comments on it”

    So much for not going to the media.

    But as I said before…..dob on us and see what happens.

  21. Guys /gals anyone here interested in GetUp , I help them out when I can.
    Maybe I should see them about a petition ?
    WIll above I signed in mate.THX.

  22. There are 15 male Cabinet ministers who have not been accused. However, if they remain silent they surely deserve to be reviled for participating in this cover up. No problem, we will all know who it is before the week is out.

  23. Stu, I’m a GetUp subscriber for the simple reason that they are a genuine ‘grass roots’ organisation.
    I’ve had many emails requesting opinion on what they should do about a particular topic and/or suggestions for action.
    Glad to say that very many are in process.

  24. Stu, in my humble opinion a petition would be a waste of time.

    I’ve worked for an LNP govt. Petitions are thrown in the bin. Besides, on this particular matter a petition would be laughed at before being thrown in the bin.

    Petitions rarely work.

  26. Of course its all debateable, but there seems to be an interesting clue from the following article:

    “Being in Adelaide has also had its moments. I have taken photos of two key locations: a former T-shirt shop in Hindley, where (REDACTED) bought a tank top, and the hotel we were all in staying in 1986, when we first met.”

    From… https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/letters-emails-detail-historical-sexual-assault-claim-against-minister/news-story/9bc8301d7a129b6d04a730c372e9f7b1

    What activities involving high school and/or university students students from around Australia were happening in Adelaide in 1986 and in Sydney in January 1988?

    Checking Wicki bios for those who were students at that time offers an interesting lead or two, but it is certainly all debateable.

  28. How very interesting…..

    I have been looking through politicians’ wikipedia pages today and one of them has changed during the day to take out a reference to him being in Sydney in 1988.

    Hmmmmmm…….

  30. Michael Getup has changed many things in federal politics lately many of the COALition stupid ideas they have shut down by sheer numbers.
    Guys sign up and GetUp.

  31. I remember that Michael. This one seems a bit of a dead giveaway to me. I notice someone else on Twitter is also aware that this person was in Sydney in 1988 but no-one seems to have mentioned/noticed the Wikipedia change.

    Whoops, I take that back. Someone else HAS noticed that his page has been edited several times today.

  34. wam,

    I think the person has outed himself – several pages connected to him have changed or disappeared today since I looked at them this morning. But people have noticed and are putting it all together. Timing in the first week of January fits.

  37. Coincidence I think not.
    Hey guys I’m new here but I have a new acronym for y’all to use MAGAT’s you can work it out , use it and use it in numbers plenty of Trumpers are being shocked back into buyers remorse.I get we’ve got a Trump light in power but the original still needs to be excised at any and every opportunity.

  38. TY Kaye Lee, at least now we know the alleged offence took place in Sydney, might narrow it down a bit.

    By Christ, the MSM has been sloppy in their handling of these incidents.

    Btw, the individual responsible is pretty gutless to allow this pall of suspicion to fall over his colleagues. Wants to man up, grow a spine.

  40. How to get a decent sleep, Michael, is to convince yourself of the reality that there is SFA that you can do if you are over tired and anxious.
    Therefore, in order to do what you do in the best way possible you must be on top form, which requires at least seven and a half hours of proper, restful repose.
    Yer nai plurry gud otherwise.

  41. If this is Sydney, the list narrows a lot.

    Looking at a key individual, funny nothing about recent scandals at the wiki.

    Still we may ponder as we may. It will probably not turn out to be someone we dislike less than more.

  42. I remember, when I was at high school, every Thursday morning, we used to have a full school assembly. One winter’s Thursday morning, we were told that there was no assembly and the next day, an impromptu assembly was called for the second period after recess. The Acting Principal stood up and told us that the reason why we didn’t have our usual assembly the previous day was because there had been a police raid on the school for drugs. He told us, firmly, that our reputation had nosedived, but if we heard any gossip from members of the public, we should say, “It was only a handful of the students involved. And that the rest of us were doing the right thing.”
    Just like it could tarnish the reputation of a school, speculation over the an entire cabinet is not helpful. If Scotty From Marketing was a true leader, he would say, “Right, this speculation is harming my government. You are going to have to come forward and reveal yourself and resign from Cabinet and from there, politics.” But he won’t.

  43. After much research, I know who the mp is. C.P. in Adelaide and Sydney on the same dates as the rape victim. Both were at a debating tournament. Read some of the comments on reddit. And it’s all over Twitter. Now you should be able to get a good night’s sleep. Cheers.

  44. In the light of all the allegations and related information now coming out in such a rush, the right description for Scummo’s government is not just a sewer, but the ultimate example of a cesspit. First it was Dutton trying to soften the accusations with his ‘he said she said’ brushoff, now it that vile creature Sara Henderson with her sly accusation,’ but Labor is guilty too’. A crime, in fact more than one it seems, has been committed and everyone who has knowledge or who tried to ignore it is just as guilty or can be considered an accessory. by their silence or negligence. That includes everyone, even the guy in charge of the government. Scummo’ huff and puff is just a lot of BS.

  45. According to the dossier sent by the friends of the woman who committed suicide, it happened in the first week of January in Sydney and Redfern was the closest police station.

    https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/letters-emails-detail-historical-sexual-assault-claim-against-minister/news-story/9bc8301d7a129b6d04a730c372e9f7b1

    The man whose wikipedia page (and others) changed yesterday was apparently in Sydney that week (at least that’s what his wiki page said in the morning, gone by the evening.) He isn’t from Sydney. He was there for an event. According to Twitter (?), the wikipedia changes are coming from an ISP in Canberra.

  46. The only thing that would prevent a rape case going to court even after the death of the rape victim would be lack of evidence particularly of forensic evidence.

    However, this woman left a detailed dossier together with audio tapes and emails.

    At the end of the day it all comes down to whether there is sufficient evidence for the prosecution to mount a case that stands the chance of being upheld by a jury to the required standard, beyond a reasonable doubt.

    In the meantime the PM should stand the man down pending police investigations as to do otherwise places all male ministers under suspicion and that, as they like to say in politics, is not tenable.

  47. sorry for the crudeness that points to conservativism and pornography.
    It is odd that people who cannot see the love in single sex marriages watch anal sex on porn and still reacted with disgust to my observation to women that if a man wants anal sex, threaten to buy a cucumber(or strap on) and tell him ‘you first!”

  48. Just saw it on Twitter too, Kaye. Screenshots of lots of Wikipedia edits on said politician.

    I was going to post a comment last night – so I might as well do it now, even though it’s only a teaser – that our readers here think they know who it is. I could tell by the search terms people use in Google that led them to The AIMN. One name stood out.

    Of course, this is still not evidence that said person is guilty, it was just an interesting observation.

  50. But I will caution that whilst Twitter can be a great source of up to date news, it is not a court of law.

    If you search hard enough on Twitter you could find tens of thousands of people repeating the lie that the US election was rigged. Doesn’t mean to say it was.

  51. Dangerous territory, folks, You bring the rope and I’ll find a chair.
    Great detective work, though.

  52. Thank you for all explaining a story that is both revelatory and investigative yet is such a cruel one. Although the act of suicide is only similarity of another ‘outing’ of ‘who knew what’ which occurred when both federal Liberal politicians and W.A. Liberal opposition Members poured their verbal bullying on the then W.A. Labor leader in a 1990s stoush for ? power. The Labor party to their credit gave support and inclusiveness by offering a federal seat, yet at the time the Liberal power ‘players’ appeared to confect an accountability fiction onto a leader, or appeared to infer publicly the suicide was the leader’s fault.

    Here is shown me how facts and fact checking is aiming for an ‘outing’ by a perpetrator or rapist, and I commend this process.

  53. Whilst I was getting excited in thinking that changes to unsaid’s Wikipedia page was proof of guilt, could it be that these changes were made simply to remove him as a suspect?

    I always remember one of our uni lecturers (in Research Methods) posing this question to the class:

    “I put an ant in a matchbox – leave him there for two weeks – and when I open the box I find he is dead. What would you say he died of?”

    Of course, we all responded that he’d died of starvation.

    “How do you know that?” he asked. “He might have had a disease and died the very next day. He might have died on day 2 from internal injuries sustained in a fight with another creature. He might have taken his own life by banging his head against the wall. The point is… the obvious answer is not always the correct one.”

  55. With the alleged victim now dead the whole argument becomes “yes you did,no I didn’t” even if the perpetrator is named.No witnesses of course to this crime no solid evidence other than statements she may have made to friends etc. If the rape was anal,as alleged maybe a doctor treated her this could come to light through the medical records but still nothing to provide a name.All terribly distressing & your heading “the Morrison government is a sewer” couldn’t be more correct.

  56. Yes, People in the know are “keeping mum” while the matter is in police hands. It has been suggested there may be legal moves that can made even if the victim is dead.

    As Michelle Grattan (I think) said of it recently, there will remain parliamentary privilege if all else fails. I cant believe the likes of SHY and Penny Wong, for a start, are going to take it lying down when action remains stubbornly unforthcoming from Scummo.

    The usual refusal of accountability is a massive issue after the last couple of weeks.

    As I said above, you look through that list and their is a handful of men there who have the mentality to commit a brutal crime against a weaker person; schoolyard thugs who have no right to be within cooee of a responsible job…Fletcher, Taylor, Tehan and even the top dog and several others could have easily fitted the bill given the personality and character problems on display over recent times.

  57. Morrison just gave a press conference. I’m actually sorry I missed it, despite comments on Twitter saying there was a lot of lip quivering, it was nauseating, and it was all about himself.

    I’m sure a video will surface while I spend a few hours gardening (if I can last that long).

    OMG! I’ve just done a Morrison – I’ve made this comment all about me. 😳

  58. You really need to wonder why, of all the spokethings rambling on, why we haven’t heard from our AG Christian Porter. After all these are legal issues involving a cabinet member, why haven’t we heard from porter? Where’s christian got to?

  60. After discussing the Aged Care Royal Commission Report the PM was finally confronted with media questions on the minister at the heart of the rape allegation

    He (the PM) much to my surprise defended the integrity of the unnamed minister and avoided talk of him standing aside pending the investigation.

    The media will probably not let this go – they all know who he is and it is inevitable that the name will be dropped and , equally as inevitable questions will be put to the minister and he will quite possibly be off on sick leave…..CRIKEY has some good coverage today from insiders and they say that this guy has a big ego and will probably not go quietly.

  61. Vikingduk…………..the ag is very regretful and now is trying to live up to his first name. The way to redemption is hard with many pitfalls and temptations to distract one.

  62. I think the person is the one Kaye Lee un-named (the one whose Wikipedia page was furiously edited overnight), but I was treading carefully. (Sorry. It’s my nature).

    It’s going to blow up soon. Take note of un-named people going into hiding.

  63. Yes, Henry, I’m sure he will continue on in his impeccable manner, displaying honesty, moral fortitude and a willingness to further the lot of women. But, jeez, why all those edits on his Wikipedia bio? Must be the road to redemption, simplify the bio, makes him more approachable. But he has assured smirk & mirrors he is ready and able to perform his duties without fear or favour and uphold the rights of the downtrodden. As soon as he exits his safe space. Down in the bowels of Parliament House.

  64. One has to be careful with all of this but a little bird told me there may be a Four Corners sequel to “Inside the Canberra Bubble” coming up.

  65. Yes, make haste slowly, Michael Taylor.

    Elsewhere it is claimed that the PM spoke privately to the alleged culprit, who robustly denied it.

    Whooda thunk?

  66. Morrison is not coming from a position of strength. Politicians who climbed the metaphorical ladder know that their real enemies sit right behind them – not across the aisle – and sitting behind Morrison is the (temporarily) departed Kelly, Barnaby Joyce, Peter Dutton, a host of aggrieved females on a short fuse, including Flint with nothing to lose now and therefore perhaps looking for a sinecure and remember the close of the last parliament and the late defections.

    Then there’s the Treasurer whose ambition far outweighs his ability but he’s probably got Rupert in his corner. Rat cunning can take you far.

    Morrison knows it. When Kelly left, the PM immediately sought out Katter for reassurance. Hardly the behavior of a confident Leader.

    No doubt the soon to be accused can count as well.

  67. Speaking generally, one would think an innocent man doesn’t go about trying to remove reference to where he was when.

  69. But who said political life (and its continuance) was about actual (objective) guilt or innocence and not perception. The days of honorable resignations from the Honorables are long gone. And Morrison needs the numbers.

  70. You know deep down that I agree with you 100%, Kaye.

    The last thing a guilty man would want is to have suspicion cast all over him. This was a sloppy way to cover things up. Surely he, or a friend, knew that Wikipedia edits can be tracked.

    Hmmm. Maybe not.

  71. And you know how competent this Government is when it comes to doing just about anything except being bastards

  72. Wikipedia edits, school magazine disappearing, attendance at the event in Sydney disappearing.

    Do these guys think we are stupid?

    Or is it them that are stupid, or so entitled that they believe they are invulnerable?

    I am so fucking pissed off that men are only just starting to realise what women have endured forever. I don’t think I know a woman who has not been the victim of sexual assault, abuse, or, at the very least, harassment. That is Australian society – women are objects to satisfy men’s sexual urges.

    And yes, I know that is not all men. I love and respect the men in my life. And they tell me it’s mutual. Good men need to help us make other men realise that women are not just there for their gratification.

    Hope Joe might read this and understand why I get so thingy.

  75. Amazing what panic and a guilty conscience can do to a person, the loyal staffers beavering away over the weekend, sanitising the record, wasn’t me, no, not me. After all I’m an honourable member, born to rule, learnt all I am at school, mate, anal rape, well, right of passage, nothing else, mate.

    What a disgusting cesspit, so many aware of the rumours, so many stayed silent. Perhaps until more men recognise that women are people this shit will go on. The only bright side I can see is that these women speaking up have started the shakeup of the status quo. This conversation cannot be another victim of the 24 hour news cycle.

    Man, being a woman is a real shit job. Shouldn’t be, of course, about time we, us men, us citizens woke up to ourselves, demanded a fare go alround. The Canberra cesspit needs a good flush. I rewatched the Julia Gillard mysogeny speech today, give it a go, very uplifting.

  76. When does Parliament sit again? By then even the neighbour’s dog will know the alleged perpetrator’s name.There’s got to be an unstoppable uproar that even the trash media can’t ignore.Scott ‘Scandals’ Morrison will have to pull some whoppers out of his arse to get around this one.Will there be one conscience pricked in the Liar’s party to bring down the house of cards?

  78. “Perhaps until more men recognise that women are people this shit will go on. ”

    Thankyou Vikingduk.

    I can very much understand looking at a person and finding them aesthetically pleasing. Imagining yourself having, or feeling you are entitled to have, sex with them is a whole different realm.

    Half the people you come across are female. Understand that we are your workmates, or the people helping you – stop fantasising about rooting us. We’ll let ya know if that’s how we feel too.

    Women aren’t asexual but it isn’t all we are there for either.

  79. Why can’t anybody say his name?
    Why, if I suggest it maybe this man, would I be in trouble?
    Have defamed him just by suggestion?
    Curious to know.

  80. “The name that scarce darest mention its own name”

    The idea would be that the incident is at an investigative stage with no charges yet laid, should evidence be sufficient to proceed in a law court. An investigation only establishes that there is a case requiring answering in a court. In the meantime, should the name be mentioned or the minister step down, speculation may jump the shark as to guilt prior to evidence presented in court that may even established innocence.

    The individual’s reputation maybe unfairly tarnished prior to proper examination through uninformed speculations and rash actions… it has happened in the past, where people not fully armed with the facts jumped to conclusions that led to actions harmful to someone proven later innocent.

    Be patient.

    The wheels grind exceeding slow, but can be very thorough when there is grist for the mill.

  81. There are two songs that get old women like me really singing loudly – “I am Woman” and “I Will Survive”.

    I want to change the words to

    “We are people hear us roar in numbers too big to ignore….” and I want to include us all.

  82. Helen Reddy and Gloria Gaynor if my fading memory is right, Kaye.

    One I do like is “Sisters are Doin’ it for Themselves” by Annie Lennox and Aretha Franklin.

  83. Please everyone keep in mind, we still don’t know the name of the Liberal staffer who raped of Brittany Higgins and indecently assaulted 3 other women. And remember also that Scummo claims he didn’t know about Brittany until a few days ago. Why is this staffer not been unmasked yet ? Someone suggested he might be a family relative of a senior Liberal party man. In all the hubbub and smoke and swirling lies and so-called press conferences by Scummo, these questions still hang on everyone’s consciousness.

    The nation needs to know and Scummo needs to tell the truth, for once in his miserable life.

  86. Did I get this right? The PM said at that press conference today he had referred the alleged rape allegations to the AFP and had spoken to the Commissioner of the AFP the same evening he learned about it (7.30 report).

    Well that seems to be a good way of ensuring nothing is done: the alleged offence occurred in Sydney so Division 10 of the NSW Crimes Act 1900 applies and unless there is some tenuous connection that has a Commonwealth aspect which would enable section 3AA of the Commonwealth Crimes Act 1914 and section 4AA of Australian Federal Police Act 1979 to come into play, the AFP has no jurisdiction to investigate it.

    How come none of the media have picked up on this?

    Or did I get it wrong?

  87. The majority of the mainstream media appear to be mot much more than Government mouthpieces these days. Graham. Murdoch, Costello’s Nine Entertainment, Kerry Stokes’ Seven and a cowed and emasculated ABC.

  89. The prime minister’s own Statement of Ministerial Standards says :

    7.1.Ministers must accept that it is for the Prime Minister to decide whether and when a Minister should stand aside if that Minister becomes the subject of an official investigation of alleged illegal or improper conduct.

    https://pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/statement-ministerial-standards-3.pdf

    So is the PM playing games here ? Is there an official investigation or did he just have a chat with the AFP Commissioner and, as pointed to by Graham, it is the NSW police who are the responsible authority as that is where the alleged crime took place.

    There has to be an official investigation and according to Greg Hunt one is already underway.The fact that the complainant is deceased does not mean that the matter goes away. In the meantime the PM must stand aside the minister pending the investigation in NSW being concluded.

  90. Kangaroo court of Australia has also named the victim, plus evidence that Birmingham new her. How do you work with a man potentially knowing he has a rape allegation against him. Time to drain this swamp, pump out the cesspit, expose these revolting things for what they are. Yo, porter, you there, mate, how about a few words, mate, explain the legal issues, mate, tell us how the afp investigate a state matter, mate. If this story has been floating around the sewer for a while now, who started it? Perhaps our league eagle porter might know, or even birmingham.

    Smirk your way out of this one scotty. By now, the neighbours dog, cat, budgie, even that dead cane toad know the name. I think your days a numbered, scotty, your general shitfuckery is on the nose, whose next in line I wonder.

  92. A point of interest, if a person is driven to suicide by a third person can that third person be charged with murder/ manslaughter. ?

  95. Graham…. thanks for the link. Now I know who the dastardly character is. I am sure they wouldn’t risk a lawsuit without insufficient pre-knowledge.

  96. Australia was said to be a lucky country, with resources, space, safe isolation, warm, healthy, and populated lately for a few centuries by ex -British (mainly) scraps, flotsam, scourings, cast offs, rejects, antisocial nomads and the progenitors and ancestors of the liberal and country parties. Second rate and dud attitudes followed, so we have buggered the environment, Our mining, banking, media are all foreign dominated. We wear, drive, utilise foreign gear. We buy sucker bait shit for defence, get into murder and robbery at the behest of filthy aggressive huns elsewhere, We lost our fine betrayed young men in places like a desolate part of Turkey (where?) a sand and rock rathole in Nth Africa (where?) and an end of the earth nowhere in New Guinea. Why? Was it just for profiteering, or bases, or resentment or sheer wilful stupidity or for obedience to foreign imperial greed?. We are cursed now with a filthite farcical, devious, depressing, degrading government of conservative political perverts, entirely self centred and useless. Rooters, rorters, rotters, ravers, ratbags, rubbish.., do we deserve that? A Poxed Moron leading a team of dissipating turds.., so nice.

  97. I’m not sure if publicly naming the victim was a good idea. From what I could deduce, the identity of the victim was based on clues. Clues don’t have much legal standing.

    If the named person was indeed the victim, then it was good investigating journalism. But if not?

    Again, if she is the victim, what would her family think of her being publicly named. Were they consulted?

    One other thing concerns me. The Kangaroo Court emailed (or wrote to – I can’t remember) Porter with a list of questions as well as announcing they would be publishing an article naming him as the “alleged” racist. I’ve worked for LNP governments. From my experience some might view that email as an invitation to sue. They probably won’t, and I certainly hope they don’t.

    The bottom line though is that we all would like to know who the alleged rapist is. In my opinion it’s in the public interest.

  101. The alleged rapist has apparently made a statement that he is the victim of defamation. (Unconfirmed).

    This could mean trouble if true.

    I appreciate the maturity and sensibility of the commenters here for not dropping names.

  102. Defamation is not my area of expertise, but absent any malice involved in the publication it seems to me that if a person/publication A says that person B has alleged in a written complaint that person C committed an offence against person B and person B did in fact make such a complaint containing such an allegation (whether the allegation was true or not) that is a true statement and cannot be defamatory.

    I will stand corrected.

    But it was still wise of everyone to not go naming names

  107. Only four from this list were educated in NSW.

    The Hon Scott Morrison MP 20 *
    The Hon Ken Wyatt AM MP 36
    The Hon Michael McCormack MP 24 *
    The Hon David Littleproud MP 12
    The Hon Josh Frydenberg MP 17
    Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham 14
    The Hon Daniel Tehan MP 20
    The Hon Christian Porter MP 18
    The Hon Greg Hunt MP 23
    The Hon Peter Dutton MP 18
    The Hon Paul Fletcher MP 23 *
    The Hon Alan Tudge MP 17
    The Hon Keith Pitt MP 19
    The Hon Angus Taylor MP 22 *
    The Hon Darren Chester MP 21
    The Hon Stuart Robert MP 18

  108. Ok folks it’s question time. Your questions.

    Let us assume that, as might be expected, the relevant Minister comes out and says ” I am the person she alleged committed the offence but it did not happen. I do not recall ever meeting her but it may have happened and she has either mistaken me for someone else or, in her unfortunately disturbed mental state, she has conflated meeting me with what happened to her. ” (You got any jobs writing media statements going for me Scotty?)

    Given the incestuous relationship between our politicians and the main stream media – the others asking hard questions will not get a look in – you can expect that what the media will call hard hitting questions (but which in reality will ensure they are never excluded from any future media charade) are going to be pretty anodyne .

    OK so here is your chance. What questions would you ask him?

    Michael can keep tabs

    Here is my first pick: what did you tell your wife about this allegation and when?

  109. In days of yore, effective Oppositions always had an attack dog. Someone who was in a relatively safe seat who had no realistic leadership ambitions and who was prepared to turn the switch to mongrel. From the Labor Party, Simon Crean played that part in support of Beazley and thus he was never far from a microphone and camera. And hot microphones were never far from him because he was talent – always good for a headline.

    These days, most MPs are too prim and proper, too PC to be mongrels – at least on the Opposition side. Might be time for a confirmed, departing Labor member to self immolate via outrageous accusations and make a name before it’s too late.

    Now is the time to stand up, immolate, and be counted. Albo (and Australia) needs you.

  110. MN, 100% with you.

    There’s an old saying: “The government’s only as good as the opposition.”

    At the moment (a long moment) we don’t have a good government.

  111. Graham, I was hoping for an early night. 😉 I worked like a demon in the garden today. 😳

    But speaking of his wife, I’m seeing on Twitter that she’s a defamation lawyer. Not sure, myself. I wouldn’t know. Could be fireworks if she is.

  112. Graham, Morrison is a media professional. Not only will the Minister under the pump deliver a carefully prepared statement, his advisors will have done their homework and gamed possible/probable questions and appropriate response(s). Further, because Ministers get to choose whose turn it is to ask, homework will be done to brief. To make promises etc. This will be staged.

    The number of questions will be limited and because the press are in competition with each other, co-operation is unlikely. In short, the Minister will have both tactics and strategy while the journos will have neither.

  114. The info on Twitter was misleading. There’s no confirmation that his wife is a defamation lawyer.

    What is confirmed, however, is that he has hired a defamation lawyer.

  115. Tut tut Michael. Lawyers, defamation or otherwise, are not hired: they are engaged but if it is a barrister they are retained

  118. Michael,

    “It’s around about now that we need a strong Opposition.”

    Albo is not it, he’s more like a hamster hopped up a poppy seed. A couple of loud squeaks and back into his little house for a rest.

  119. The man alleged to be a rapist was still at school, not in NSW. The alleged crime occurred in NSW while on a school debating trip. Victim private school SA. The alleged offender I think in WA.

  120. Can we troll porter? – It’s pathetic I know- but it would make me feel better. I’m a 57 yo woman and am absolutely sick and tired of this filthy pattern. The media makes a tonne of money drip feeding the news till it reaches saturation then bang just like that nothing gets fixed. So we get outraged to the point of wanting to troll the prick but thats all folks nothing more to see hear – till next time.
    Laws are mostly male constructs we were never considered in. I for one have little respect for many laws as they don’t include me – women. For example I so want to call that prick what he is but no no no. The ABC report on porter was no fluke what’s the saying if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck it’s a ?

  121. Am I the only one that has thought of this?

    After the PM forwarded the letter to the police on the Friday, someone with an IP address in Canberra (the actual address of which can be obtained with sufficient digging ) edited the Wiki page of Porter to remove the record of his attending the debates in Sydney in January 1988.

    At that stage, the police had the allegations in hand and a reasonable person might surmise that an investigation was going to begin, judicial proceedings might occur and that those Wiki entries might be evidence in such proceedings. The fact the NSW police subsequently decided there was no prospect of securing a conviction and thus there were no proceedings going to be commenced is not relevant

    Destroying, fabricating or tampering with evidence or attempting to do so, amounts to perverting the course of justice. Those interested might want to see what Part 7 of the NSW Crimes Act 1900 has to say about this. Link here

    https://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/ca190082/

  122. The prime minister has said that the NSW police :

    “ are the competent and authorised authorities to make the judgments about any such allegations. And they have made their conclusions. That’s where the matter rests.”

    The New South Wales police have said there is “insufficient admissible evidence” to continue their investigation.

    Christian Porter has said the NSW police had “never contacted” him about the allegations.

    How can we just walk away from these allegations when the person at the centre of them has never even been interviewed by the police. We are talking about the chief law officer in Australia and the only way that justice can be served in these circumstances is for an independent inquiry by a retired High Court judge.

    That is the only satisfactory approach for Porter and for Australia.

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