Attorney-General Christian Porter will resume duties on March 31 and testify under oath over the historical rape allegations from when he was a teenager.
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The opposition continues to call for an independent inquiry as it braces for allegations on its side of politics.
Although the NSW Police have closed the case against Mr Porter and the woman who made the allegation is dead, lawyers for Mr Porter have initiated defamation proceedings against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan in a bid to have the claims tested in a court.
The defamation action concerns an article and tweets published before Mr Porter outed himself as the cabinet minister at the centre of the alleged anal rape of a 16-year-old girl in 1988.
Rebekah Giles, who is representing Mr Porter in the defamation claim, said the article made false allegations and although he was not named, the attorney-general was easily identifiable to many Australians.
Ms Giles said the attorney-general had been subjected to trial by media, which should now end with the commencement of the defamation proceedings.
"Under the Defamation Act it is open for the ABC and Ms Milligan to plead truth in their defence to this action and prove the allegations to the lower civil standard," Ms Giles said.
Mr Porter has been on leave over the stress of the allegations, but would be welcomed back into cabinet on his return, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
More than 80,000 people have signed a petition calling for Mr Porter to be suspended as attorney-general over the allegations.
Mr Porter's former wife was among thousands of West Australians to march across Perth on Sunday in protest against gender discrimination and violence.
Thousands more marched on Parliament House in Canberra on Monday.
Other rallies were held in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
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Finance Minister Simon Birmingham rejected suggestions the government was out of touch with community expectations.
"I think Australians do expect that proper legal processes should be followed in relation to addressing such allegations," he told ABC radio.
"Those legal processes have been deployed by the NSW Police as they've outlined. Of course, there are also legal processes in relation to the tragic death (of the woman involved) and those processes remain under way in South Australia, and we should let them run their course."
Labor is bracing for new allegations on its side of politics after very serious allegations were raised on its Elizabeth Reid network for ALP women to share their stories.
Allegations against Labor staffers and MPs raised on the platform, some dating back to the Hawke government, were described by Labor leader Anthony Albanese on Monday as "very disappointing" and evidence that harassing behaviour did not exist solely on one side of politics.
"It is hard to look into anonymous suggestions," Mr Albanese said. He encouraged women in the party to come forward and speak out. He also encouraged men to listen to those concerns and to respond.
"Women need to feel safe in every workplace and, indeed, every part of society," Mr Albanese said.
- with AAP
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