More questions have emerged about New South Wales police’s handling of rape allegations after six months elapsed before police formally interviewed a NSW Nationals MP alleged to have raped a sex worker.
On Wednesday, a NSW member of parliament, Trish Doyle, used parliamentary privilege to allege that Michael Johnsen, the Nationals MP for the Upper Hunter, raped a sex worker at a “secluded lookout” in the Blue Mountains in 2019.
Doyle said she had been contacted 18 months ago by a sex worker who claimed she “had recently been assaulted in my electorate”. The Labor MP alleged the woman told her she consented only to oral sex and had been “clear with her client from the outset” and she did not consent to penetrative sex.
The woman alleged Johnsen, near the end of the encounter, moved behind her and “assaulted her in a way that she had not consented to”.
After discussions with Doyle, the woman reported the matter to police in September 2020. But Johnsen was due to be formally interviewed for the first time only on Friday.
Johnsen, who strongly denies the allegation, identified himself as the subject of the allegations within hours of Doyle’s speech.
He said in his statement he had “voluntarily spoken with NSW police and I have and will continue to fully cooperate with their inquiries”. He has not said when he spoke to them and police said they could not comment further as “inquiries are ongoing”.
The NSW Nationals leader, John Barilaro, said he was not aware of the investigation until it was raised in parliament.
The six-month hiatus between the report and interviewing the alleged perpetrator will again raise questions about how NSW police handle allegations of sexual assault.
When asked at a budget estimates hearing in parliament last month about police handling of sexual assault allegations, the NSW police commissioner, Mick Fuller, acknowledged there were shortcomings. He was asked about the force’s handling of historical rape allegations again the federal attorney general, Christian Porter – which Porter strenuously denies – and Fuller said police were reviewing the appropriateness of terminating a sexual assault investigation where the victim has withdrawn a complaint.
Fuller also said he would look into why it took three months to contact the victim after the allegation was transferred from South Australian police. Fuller said consent laws should be strengthened given the difficulty in obtaining successful prosecutions.
On Thursday, the police minister, David Elliott, said he was not aware of the investigation of Johnsen until it was raised by Doyle in parliament.
“Not long after the member for Blue Mountains politicised an ongoing police investigation, the commissioner of police called me to say that the matter referred to by the member for Blue Mountains was in fact a live police investigation,” he said.
A spokeswoman for Elliott said it was normal practice for the police minister not to be briefed on investigations until the matter had become public or the police had issued a statement.
“Sometimes with a big drug bust we might be made aware of it ahead of time, but the normal practice is for the police minister not to be told beforehand,” she said.
Gala Vanting, from Scarlet Alliance, said sex workers’ experience of reporting sexual assaults was mixed. “They are often met with scepticism and asked inappropriate, intrusive and detailed questions,” she said on Friday.
Vanting said delays in investigating allegations were a common experience for women, not just sex workers. She said in NSW and the Northern Territory, where sex work was decriminalised, the situation was slightly better.
Some police had also completed training with groups such as Scarlet Alliance, Australia’s peak sex worker organisation, which gave them better skills to deal with sex workers.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
