An extremely important question was raised in Thursday night’s episode of ABC’s Q&A in relation to the allegations against Christian Porter that surfaced this week: “What about justice for the victim?”
Just a day after Porter revealed himself as the Cabinet Minister at the centre of the historical rape allegation, vehemently denying any wrongdoing, a Liberal senator and a Labor MP butted heads over what course of action we should see moving forward.
It’s worth noting that Porter vehemently denies any wrongdoing in the alleged incident, and there is no open police investigation into the allegations. However, as we explained yesterday, there is the possibility of an internal investigation into the matter.
In Thursday’s episode of Q&A, an audience member asked the panel if they think Scott Morrison should launch an independent inquiry into the allegations against Porter.
Despite asserting that she feels “deeply” for the alleged victim’s family, Queensland LNP Senator Susan McDonald publicly declared her support for Porter, continuing the government’s “case closed” narrative.
“We do have a system of justice in this country. We do have a police service that is well resourced and the most capable of understanding whether or not evidence needs to go to trial. And they have closed the matter,” McDonald said.
“I don’t think that this is an easy subject but we can’t have a situation where allegations equate to guilt. And I think that the minister has made a full statement and I think that we need to some justice in the law and the rules of the land, because otherwise, you know, do we back a kangaroo court and a court of public opinion?”
Western Australia Labor MP Anne Aly, looking visibly upset with her response, then chimed in by asking – point-blank – “what about justice for the victim?”
McDonald went on to defend people who have been “unjustly accused”, to which Aly again replied asking about whether the alleged victim deserves justice in this situation.
“We keep talking about justice for the accused. What about justice for the victim?” Aly said.
She then raised a very valid point that the actions of the government are especially disappointing considering the speeches they’ve given recently about how we should believe victims like Grace Tame.
“I am infuriated by this because I’m sick and tired of the lip service that we hear in parliament about hearing victims’ voice, about listening to women, about respect for women, and right now is a moment,” Aly said.
Aly also called upon Scott Morrison to do better and show leadership by launching an independent inquiry into the Porter situation.
“What did he do? He came out and he said, ‘Well, I have asked him if he did it and he said no, and that’s enough for me.’ And then suddenly you’ve got all of these men invoking justice, justice, justice,” she said.
“That inquiry will either exonerate Christian Porter and prove his innocence, as he is — as he is saying, that he is innocent, or it will prove otherwise. Either way, this is a serious, serious allegation. It needs to be treated seriously.”
But unfortunately, the only person who gets to make the call on whether or not to launch an independent inquiry is Scott Morrison, and he’s made his position on the matter crystal clear.
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