The cabinet minister accused of raping a now deceased woman decades ago is preparing to identify himself today.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told Ben Fordham he has not spoken with the minister accused, and criticised the ‘imperfect’ process that led to this situation.

He called for changes that would remove the need for victims to “go public” with their accusations in order to receive justice.

“There should be a process that takes it away from trial by politicians, because some of that has political purpose and nothing really much to do with empathy for the [alleged] victim.

“You’re not really helping the person, you’re also an article of a public recrimination of a person that … you have an axe to grind [with].”

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