Morning mail: rape claim fallout, sex crimes squad briefs schools, myth-busting unit

Monday: Rape allegations against a cabinet minister should be investigated by an independent body, say legal experts. Plus: who is Kate Kelly?

It's 1 March, and this is Imogen Dewey with the main stories leading the day - plus a look at the littler-known Kelly sibling you should have heard of.

Legal experts are calling for an independent investigation of the historical rape alleged to have been committed by a federal cabinet minister, citing it as a very serious" integrity issue. Geoffrey Watson, director of the Centre for Public Integrity, has challenged the government's position that only police should investigate the serious offence, alleged to have occurred in 1988. Two more federal MPs have revealed they were made aware of the allegation before that: a Liberal MP sent a dossier on Wednesday, and a Labor MP contacted by the complainant, a friend, in 2019. Adam Bandt has called on Scott Morrison to stand the minister aside pending an independent inquiry. Malcolm Turnbull backed a coronial inquest into the death of the complainant, who took her own life in July. Anthony Albanese, while agreeing the matter is best handled by police, yesterday called it a test" for Scott Morrison, who must decide if the minister should continue in his current position. He refused to say how he would handle a similar allegation against a Labor frontbencher, arguing that this was a hypothetical. But Liberal senator Sarah Henderson last night referred a rape allegation against an unnamed Labor member of parliament to the federal police.