AUSTRALIA
The Age
Josephine Tovey
State Political Reporter
FORMER prime minister Malcolm Fraser has joined independent MP Tony Windsor and Senator Nick Xenophon in calling for a national royal commission on sexual abuse by religious groups and other institutions, following claims by a senior police officer last week that the Catholic Church was still covering up the crime.
New South Wales premier Barry O’Farrell announced a special commission of inquiry to examine the police investigations of paedophile priests in the Hunter region but resisted the call for a royal commission, as have federal politicians from the major parties.
Mr Fraser said the Catholic Church should have nothing to fear from a royal commission if it had nothing to hide.
”Isn’t it time we laid the issue at rest and made sure that all the institutions in Australia have procedures in place that will protect children?” Mr Fraser asked.
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