Portarlington Labor rape probe

A SENIOR Labor figure is being investigated by police over the alleged rape of a teenager at Portarlington, according to reports.
The assault allegedly occurred at an event organised by the party’s youth wing in the 1980s, The Australian has reported.
The paper reported that the alleged victim claimed the assault took place during an overnight camp organised by the “Vanguard” movement of the state’s Young Labor party.
The woman, a community nurse who now lives on the NSW central coast, last month made a formal complaint to Victoria Police. The complaint was assessed before the decision was made to launch an investigation.
The woman previously described the alleged assault in a series of private conversations with the newspaper, as well as publicly on Facebook, The Australian reported.
“In 1985 I joined the ALP. In 86, at the age of 16, I … became a delegate for state and national conferences,” she said  in one of these online postings.
“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.”
She said she was drunk at the time the alleged assault took place, and was currently taking painkilling medication that affected her short-term memory, although she said her memory of the alleged incident itself was clear, the paper reported.
Lawyers for the man said the “unsubstantiated claims date back almost 30 years and they have never previously been raised with him”.