Why the response to the historical rape allegation against a Minister is so different TueTuesday 2 MarMarch 2021 at 7:00pm Speaking of the historical allegation of rape, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said "there are no matters that require my immediate attention". ( Share Print text only In the past, Cabinet ministers resigned for everything from the trivial to the serious. In 1984, Hawke Government Cabinet Minister Mick Young resigned when customs found an undeclared Paddington Bear in his wife's suitcase. But prime ministers have become increasingly reluctant to deliver what is known in politics as a "scalp" to the opposition. Paul Keating famously refused to have his Health Minister Carmen Lawrence stand aside when the West Australian Liberal government called a royal commission, which investigated her role in the events leading to the suicide of a woman, Penny Easton, named in state parliament when Ms Lawrence was premier.