A coronial inquest into the death of the woman who accused Christian Porter of raping her as a teenager in the 1980s will not take place after an “exhaustive” two-year police investigation.
South Australian coroner David Whittle has closed the investigation into former Adelaide schoolgirl “Kate’s” suicide after a lengthy investigation that has dragged on for over two years.
Mr Porter has always strenuously denied the rape allegation at a debating conference when both he and ‘Kate’ were teenagers and launched defamation against the ABC for reporting the claims in February 2021.
It was open to the Coroner to hold an inquest because ‘Kate’ died by suicide shortly after being discharged from a mental health facility and being asked to quarantine at home as a result of Covid restrictions.
“Since February 2021 there has been extensive media coverage of the death in 2020 of a woman referred to in the media as ‘Kate’ and allegations made by her of historical sexual assault,” Mr Whittle says in his April 27, 2023 statement.
“An exhaustive coronial investigation has now been completed. I have entered a finding as to the cause of Kate’s death and determined that an inquest will not be held.
“This is in accordance with the wishes of Kate’s family, who have requested that their privacy be respected. The State Coroner is bound by confidentiality obligations and no further information will be released.”
Two years ago, NSW Police revealed the woman at the centre of the allegation told police she did not want to proceed with the complaint just days before taking her own life in 2020.
At the time, lawyers acting for the woman’s family said they were open to either a coronial inquiry or an independent investigation into her rape claims, to be established by parliament.
“The family of the deceased continue to experience considerable grief arising from their loss,” the statement said.
“They are supportive of any inquiry which could potentially shed light on the circumstances surrounding the deceased’s passing.”
Mr Porter revealed himself as the minister at the centre of a rape allegation involving a 16-year-old girl in Sydney in 1988 after media coverage than an unnamed cabinet minister was accused.
The former Attorney-General, who was never charged, chose to waive his anonymity in order to publicly deny the allegations, telling a press conference the incident never occurred.
NSW Police said there had been “insufficient evidence” to proceed with an investigation, labelling the matter “closed”.
But Mr Whittle then announced he had deemed the investigation into the accuser’s death “incomplete”.
“On the morning of 1 March 2021, an investigation file regarding the death of a woman in June 2020 was delivered to me by South Australia Police. The woman’s death and related matters have been the subject of media reporting in recent days,” he said in a 2021 statement.
“Whilst SAPOL has provided information to me, I determined that the investigation is incomplete. This was particularly evident having regard to information contained in recent media reports.”
Friends of the dead woman wrote to the Prime Minister in 2021 demanding an independent inquiry and naming Mr Porter.
The original ABC report did not name him but Mr Porter’s legal team argues he was easily identifiable and his name was circulating on social media before he chose to identify himself in a Perth press conference.
When the defamation action was first brought, it was proposed as a de facto inquiry into the matter where Mr Porter was prepared to give sworn evidence.
However, Mr Porter settled the case with the ABC and never gave evidence on the matter.
The ABC ultimately agreed to pay $100,000 in mediation costs to Mr Porter’s legal team but no financial damages.
The South Australian coroner was subsequently granted access to an unredacted copy of the ABC’s defence in its defamation case against Christian Porter to assist the investigation.
Last year, Mr Porter lost an appeal against a federal court decision banning his barrister from acting in his defamation case.
The judge further ruled that a number of documents related to the case will remain suppressed for the next decade.
The documents that Justice Besanko ordered to remain suppressed until August 15, 2032 included unredacted court exhibits and transcripts of proceedings held behind closed doors.
One document tendered to the court was ordered to remain suppressed until 2052.