Governor-general stands aside over rape allegations

The Governor-General of Australia – the Queen’s representative in the country – has temporarily stood aside until a rape allegation is heard in court, Prime Minister John Howard announced today.

Governor-General Peter Hollingworth has denied a previously-unknown allegation that he raped a young woman at a church camp in the 1960s.

Howard told reporters in Canberra: “It has been agreed between the Governor-General and myself that Dr Hollingworth will stand aside from his position as Governor-General pending the determination of the court proceedings initiated in the Supreme Court of Victoria.”

Australia retains the Queen as its head of state.

As her representative, the Governor-General is nominal head of state, commander-in-chief of the defence forces and performs duties such as signing legislation into law and swearing-in governments.

Hollingworth has been under pressure to resign for the past 10 days after a year-long Anglican Church inquiry found that when he was a senior Anglican Archbishop in the early 1990s he had allowed a pedophile priest to continue working despite knowing the man had sexually abused a 14-year-old girl.

The pressure on Hollingworth grew when the rape allegation surfaced.

The woman filed a civil case earlier this year alleging Hollingworth raped her. She has died since filing the case, which became public on Thursday after a court lifted orders suppressing the identities of those involved.

Howard said that while Hollingworth stood aside as Governor-General of the Australian Commonwealth, the Queen’s representative in the state of Tasmania, Governor Sir Guy Green, would stand in for him.

Hollingworth would not be able to consider resigning over the mishandling of the pedophile cases when he was Anglican Archbishop of Queensland state, until the case over the rape allegations in the Supreme Court of Victoria state was finished.

“It is only when those proceedings have been determined that the Governor-General can give consideration to the longer term tenure of his office,” Howard said.

He added that Hollingworth would consider the “dignity and the protection of the office above all other considerations”.

Howard, who spoke with Hollingworth earlier today, said he believed the former archbishop had done nothing which suggested that his appointment should be terminated.

Howard recommended Hollingworth’s appointment to the Queen two years ago and is the only person who can recommend his dismissal.

Last year, Hollingworth acknowledged “errors of judgment” over several pedophile cases when the issue first arose and sparked the Church inquiry, but refused to resign his governor-general post.

Over the past 10 days since the release of the Church inquiry report, calls for his resignation have become a daily clamour with federal and state politicians and many Anglican Church leaders urging him to consider the impact of the scandal on the office of Governor-General.