PERTH: Australia's attorney general on Wednesday outed himself as the unnamed cabinet minister accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, denying the decades-old allegation and trying to draw a line under a crisis that has consumed the country's conservative government.

After a week of speculation that has dominated Australian politics, 50-year-old Porter -- the government's top lawyer and a former prosecutor -- denied wrongdoing, saying "the allegations never happened" and insisted he would not step down.

But Porter said he would take medical leave to deal with the strain caused by the allegations.