Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce wants an independent inquiry into rape allegations against Attorney-General Christian Porter, saying many people, including some Liberal MPs, want his "head on a plate".
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The New England MP has backed Mr Porter's decision to stay put as the nation's first law officer.
"Christian Porter may not want an independent inquiry but he has got one by default," Mr Joyce wrote on his Facebook page on Saturday.
"A demeaning, cathartic inquisition by the press and opposition."
Mr Joyce juxtaposed the situation to his own experience in 2018 when he was the subject of sexual harassment allegations. He always denied those allegations.
What Barnaby Joyce posted to Facebook
"It is a God awful tumbling, traumatic imbroglio. A wipe your eyes with the palm of your hands as you stare at the ground and work out where lies the truth, how did this happen?
"I have had allegations placed against me and no one ran to my defence. I would have liked to run to an independent arbiter of the truth. A person with the requisite qualifications and skill; run at the speed of a thousand gazelles had one been available. There wasn't one, so I stood down to "clear the air" as I stated at my resignation press conference. An election was coming.
"It remains one of the most galling issues of my career. I never had the opportunity to defend myself as the allegation was undefined. It stood as an insinuation rather than a statement of what I was alleged to have done. The insinuation was false.
"Christian Porter may not want an independent inquiry but he has got one by default. A demeaning, cathartic inquisition by the press and Opposition. It is achieving little beyond ratings as salacious dissonance and certainly not offering any solace to any party involved.
"The alternative should be an inquiry, in camera, the confidential one, not the media's camera. A vastly more dignified, appropriate alternative for such an emotive and serious allegation, otherwise the current vacuum may hang like fog all the way through the rest of a quite remarkable career.
"Christian must be able to refer to better than "beyond a reasonable doubt" as determined by the highest level of expertise, a High Court judge, but the process can result in a criminal conviction.
"Beyond a reasonable doubt" is remit of the police and the court. The NSW police have completed the instigating steps in this issue and have stated that there is no further to go. The case is closed.
"I am at odds with my Coalition colleagues but I don't want Christian to end up sitting at the back of the chamber under the exit sign where my colleagues have kindly placed me. Politics is a nefarious business. Your affiliates in neat ties and white ironed shirts with a sotto voce sombreness covering a ruthless and at times treacherous character.
"Politics can dispense with you like an unwanted kitten from a feral litter. Christian knows, many in the Opposition and some on his own side don't want the truth unless it comes with his head on a plate. They just want his scalp.
"Christian would also know, they will ultimately get what they want unless he can refer them to a deliberation on the allegation, beyond reasonable questions of efficacy. Then politically the case is closed and this point in Christian's career becomes a semi colon, not a full stop."