OREANDA-NEWS. Australia's Attorney General Christian Porter and Defense Secretary Linda Reynolds lost their posts in a government reshuffle launched as part of Prime Minister Scott Morrison's efforts to limit the political damage caused by a string of rape scandals. This was reported by the SBS TV channel.

Christian Porter combined the positions of Attorney General and Minister of Industrial Relations. His place will be taken by Michaelia Cash. In turn, Porter will now become the Minister of Industry, Science and Technology. Linda Reynolds will be replaced by the current Home Secretary Peter Dutton. She will also replace Stewart Robert as Minister of Public Services and Insurance.

Earlier, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison received an anonymous letter in which Australian Attorney General Christian Porter was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl in 1988 in Sydney. The woman contacted the police in 2019, but did not state her allegations in an official statement. She committed suicide last year. NSW police said there was "insufficient admissible evidence" to investigate and that the case was closed. The attorney general himself denied the rape charges against the girl in 1988 and announced that he would not leave his post.

In addition, four women said they were victims of rape or sexual harassment by a parliamentarian.

After a story with a spokesman for the Secretary of Defense Brittany Higgins, Morrison initiated an investigation and promised to "change the culture of attitudes towards women in parliament." The incident took place in March 2019 in the parliamentary cabinet of Defense Minister Linda Reynolds. According to the victim's statement, she was raped by a colleague.