Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has slammed former Primer Minister Malcolm Turnbull for “unfounded” suggestions over the circumstances of the death of the woman at the centre of the historic rape allegation. 

The former PM cast doubt the woman had taken her own life on ABC’s Radio National, saying “we don’t know for sure that she took her own life, we know for sure that she’s dead.”

Minister Dutton said the comments say “more about Mr Turnbull than it does about anybody else.”

“The really important point here is the tragedy of the family, and the parents issued a statement through their solicitor yesterday to say that they’re still deeply grieving the loss of their daughter,” he told Ray Hadley.

“They never wanted any of this to be made public, they expressed that to the ABC at the time, and for some people to completely disregard that and to use this circumstance for their own axe to grind is unforgivable.

“Question marks about whether the lady had [taken her own life] or not is not something that anyone else can comment on except for the police and the investigators, and the family.

“There’s no suggestion that this lady did anything other than tragically take her own life, and to question that, I think people need to explain on what basis they would make such a suggestion.”

Click PLAY to hear the interview below