Australian Governor General offers to resign

The British Queen’s representative to Australia said today he had offered to resign as Governor General – the country’s nominal head of state.

Governor General Peter Hollingworth has been under pressure to quit because of accusations that he raped a woman 40 years ago, and his alleged mishandling of paedophile cases while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s.

In a statement, Dr Hollingworth said it was with deep regret and after much thought that he had told Prime Minister John Howard that he would have to step down.