Say what you like about Christian Porter’s moment on the stage on Wednesday, the production was brought to you by the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.
Morrison is the producer and director of this craven show of political stage management. The Prime Minister alone appoints and discharges the members of his cabinet. He alone decides the standards he will accept and the terms on which his ministers serve.
If he cared about standards, he would require his Attorney-General to be a fit and proper person to be Australia’s first law officer.
And while Porter can never be charged over this rape accusation, neither can his name ever be cleared. Because his accuser is dead, there never will be a trial.
From the moment the story broke six days ago that a cabinet minister stood accused of rape, it has never been about criminal justice.
The government’s cover story – that it was a matter for the police – was just that. The government hid behind it until the police made the inevitable announcement that there was no investigation.
In truth, it has always been a character test. Morrison and Porter failed the first phase by hiding behind an imaginary police investigation, and on Wednesday they failed the second phase.
Morrison should have announced an independent inquiry. Not into the rape accusation. That’s impossible. He should have announced an independent inquiry to establish whether Porter is a fit and proper person to hold such high office in the face of such a grave accusation.
It’s the only way to restore Porter’s reputation, to recover public confidence in Morrison’s government, to repair Australia’s credibility in the world. Can we accuse other countries of violations of human rights or justice or women’s rights if they can accuse Australia of sheltering an accused rapist as Attorney-General?
Unless and until Porter can satisfy a fit and proper person test, he will remain a diminished man, a degraded minister, a political liability for the government and a source of disquiet for the nation.
Porter isn’t enjoying the awful suspicion hanging over him. He spoke of the strain on his own mental health. An independent inquiry to establish his good character could put the matter to rest.
Would such an inquiry be extraordinary? Of course, it would. That’s okay. It’s a unique situation and requires an unorthodox solution. Besides, governments call independent inquiries all the time on all sorts of matters. If it was good enough for the High Court to hold an independent inquiry into a former judge, why not for the federal government into its Attorney-General?
By outing himself on Wednesday, Porter cleared his fellow ministers of suspicion. Morrison should have done the same for his government and his nation.
Instead, Morrison has followed the course of least resistance. Go into hiding, then go into denial, then send the minister away on leave, and wait for the whole thing to blow over. This is the standard political play for a standard political scandal.
This is not a standard political scandal. This is not a movie we have seen before. It gave Morrison a chance to lead Australia towards higher standards in politics and towards greater respect for women.
Instead, he has delivered Australia a low-rent production that does everyone a disservice.
National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line: 1800 737 732. Crisis support can be found at Lifeline: (13 11 14 and lifeline.org.au), the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467 and suicidecallbackservice.org.au) and beyondblue (1300 22 4636 and beyondblue.org.au).
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