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Katharine Murphy
Jeremy Samuel says he met the woman who has alleged she was raped by a cabinet minister in January 1988 during that same year.
“I was her friend,” Samuel told Guardian Australia on Monday. “I just want to say that my friend was an incredibly smart, witty, talented and capable person.”
Samuel and the woman met in Brisbane when they were high-achieving teenagers with shared interests, and kept in touch for three decades. He said she first revealed the historical rape allegation to him in June 2019, a year before her death. “Not just her death but a lot of events of her life were tragically sad,” he said.
You can read the full report below:
20:32
Welcome to Tuesday
Good morning, Matilda Boseley here to battle the day’s news with you.
And excitingly I’m going to be around a lot more from now on, with you most non-sitting weeks morning before passing you back into the capable hands of Amy Remeikis on the days the politicians sit down to business in parliament.
If you see anything in your travels this morning that you reckon I’ve missed or think should be in the blog make sure you get in touch with me on Twitter @MatildaBoseley, or by email on matilda.boseley@gmail.com.
Today one of the main things to look out for is the fallout from that slightly disastrous prime ministerial press conference yesterday in which Scott Morrison said the unnamed cabinet minister who has been accused of a historical rape in 1988 should not be required to step down while police continue their inquiries.
Morrison says the cabinet minister in question “vigorously rejected” the claims made by a woman who has since taken her own life.
This is the latest in a string of sexual assault allegations levelled at people involved in the government and the effects of that have begun to show. A new Essential poll shows that two-thirds of Australia believe the government has shown more interest in protecting its political interests than the interests of women who have made rape and sexual assault allegations.
This poll came after a fortnight of questions about the government’s handling of the alleged rape of then-political staffer Brittany Higgins in the defence industry minister’s office in Parliament House in 2019.
About 65% of respondents agreed with the statement: “The government has been more interested in protecting itself than the interests of those who have been assaulted.” This included 51% of self-identified Coalition supporters.
That press conference was actually called because the damning royal commission report in Australia aged care was handed down.
The government has been criticised for not giving the media enough time to actually read the huge document before a press conference was held. Now that they have had the night to pour over the 148 recommendations, we can expect some more tough questions launched at whichever politicians stand up to speak today.
Updated
Hafta Ichi
Source: The Guardian
Keyword: Australia news live: government under fire over handling of rape allegations as voters lose trust | Australia news
