By NOEL MURPHY
RAPE claims levelled against federal opposition leader Bill Shorten following an alleged assault at Portarlington in the 1980s could be revived under new legal action.
Media reports this week said the lawyer of the alleged victim, Kathy, had petitioned for papers from Victoria Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) John Champion that he used before deciding not to press charges against Mr Shorten.
Peter Faris QC was reported as saying his client had previously not enjoyed the benefit of a lawyer’s advice.
She wanted a court to decide on her allegations, not the DPP, he said.
The rape claim, first reported late last year, involved Kathy while still a teenage girl. She is now a community nurse living on the New South Wales central coast.
She posted complaints to Facebook and spoke also with The Australian newspaper.
Media reports at the time cited only a “senior ALP figure”, although some blogs openly named Mr Shorten, who police interviewed earlier this year.
Kathy was reported as saying in an online post: “In 1985 I joined the ALP. In 86, at the age of 16, I…became a delegate for state and national conferences.
“In ’86 I went to a Young Labor camp down near Geelong…I was alone.
“At about 4am there was a knock at my door. It was him at the door.
“He pushed me into a bathroom, up against a towel rail, pulled down my pants and raped me.”
Mr Shorten revealed himself as the senior ALP figure in August when he said he had been the subject of an investigation into rape allegations dating from 1986.
He called the allegations untrue and abhorrent.
Victoria Police confirmed it would take no further action, said the matter was over and that Mr Shorten had a right to “draw the line on this”.
Investigating police said at the time they would take no further action after the state Office of Public Prosecutions advised there was no reasonable prospect of success.
Mr Faris now reportedly wants paperwork, including access to the police brief, used by DPP Champion.
