Australian Official Awaits Court Ruling

The New York Times
May 12, 2003

CANBERRA, Australia, May 11 — Governor General Peter Hollingworth, who represents the British Crown in Australia, announced today that he was stepping aside while a court dealt with an allegation that he committed a rape in the 1960's.

Dr. Hollingworth, 68, a former Anglican archbishop of Brisbane, has denied the charge. He disclosed his decision after talks with Prime Minister John Howard, who had recommended his appointment in 2001.

Dr. Hollingworth said he would also consider his "longer term" position while waiting for the court decision on the allegation, an accusation by a former nurse who has since died, that he raped her at a church youth camp 40 years ago.

Dr. Hollingworth was already under pressure to resign after a church investigation concluded last month that, while he was serving as archbishop of Brisbane, he had permitted a priest who had had sex with a minor to continue working, and had promoted a church official found to have protected the offender.

The governor general's position here is a ceremonial sinecure as the formal representative of the British monarch who, by a constitutional quirk inherited from British colonial days, is Australia's head of state.