2 Australian Ministers Demoted After Rape Allegations

Linda Reynolds was removed as defence minister and Christian Porter as attorney-general, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison bowed to weeks of mounting public pressure.

Two Australian ministers were demoted from top cabinet posts Monday as the ruling conservative party tried to draw a line under dual rape scandals that have convulsed national politics. Linda Reynolds was removed as defence minister and Christian Porter as attorney-general, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison bowed to weeks of mounting public pressure. Porter -- the government's top legal officer and a former state prosecutor -- is accused of raping a 16-year-old fellow student in 1988, an allegation he denies.  The woman died last June, reportedly by suicide.