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Australia’s 23rd governor-general, Dr Peter Hollingworth, has died aged 91.
Hollingworth led a prominent life which culminated in his becoming the Crown’s highest representative in Australia in 2001.
Prior to this, he spent 40 years in the clergy, beginning as a deacon in charge of a parish in North Melbourne and eventually rising to become Anglican archbishop of Brisbane in 1989.
It was during his time in Brisbane that he was presented with child abuse allegations against priests and teaching staff.
In February 2002, less than nine months into his posting as governor-general, claims were made that Hollingworth had failed to act on these allegations.
He ultimately resigned from his position in May 2003, less than two years into his five-year term, to protect the office of governor-general from persisting controversy. In doing so, he called the accusations against him “misplaced and unwarranted”.
Hollingworth later provided evidence at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The commission ultimately found he made a serious error of judgment in allowing a rector, John Linton Elliot, to continue in his role after being told Elliot was a paedophile.
“Peter Hollingworth is an exceptionally decent man who has given service to the community for almost the whole of his adult life,” said his lawyer Bill Doogue a year later.
“I felt that he was extremely hard done by in the process of the royal commission and savaged by the media in circumstances that did not warrant it.”
Hollingworth’s wife, Ann, died in 2021. The couple had three daughters together.
He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1976 and an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988. Hollingworth also wrote several books based on his experiences working with the poor and disadvantaged.
His death was first reported by the ABC, which cited Archbishop of Brisbane Jeremy Greaves.
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