Howard stands by embattled envoy

Governor-General Hollingworth has issued a 10-page statement concerning the sex-abuse allegations

SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Prime Minister John Howard says there are no grounds to take the unprecedented step of sacking the Governor-General of Australia, Peter Hollingworth, over his mishandling of sex abuse cases while he was Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.

Howard said there was no evidence that Hollingworth had done anything wrong in his duties as Governor-General, nor committed any crime while he was archbishop.

"I've come to the conclusion that there are no grounds to advise on the information now available to me, for Her Majesty (Queen Elizabeth) to terminate Dr Hollingworth's appointment," Howard told a media conference Thursday afternoon.

The embattled Hollingworth has been accused of condoning and covering-up sexual abuses committed by Anglican church officials during his reign.

On Wednesday evening, Hollingworth released a 10-page document refuting the charges but admitting he had made errors of judgment in his handling of some sex abuse cases.

The Governor-General is the representative of the Queen of England in Australia and is the nation's official head of state, although he is appointed solely on the advice of the Australian prime minister.

No governor-general has ever been sacked by a prime minister in Australia's history, and Howard said Wednesday that to do so would cause a "constitutional earthquake".

Howard said he would need to have to a "very good reason" to cause such a ruction and that nothing had emerged so far that reflected upon Hollingworth's performance of his duties as Governor-General.

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"The worst that can be said of him is that he has made errors of judgment," Howard said. "You don't cause a constitutional crisis on the basis of that."

But the leader of the main opposition Labor Party, Simon Crean, said Wednesday that Howard should have asked the Queen to terminate Hollingworth's appointment.

EXTRA INFORMATION Read the full text  of the Governor-General's statement on sex abuse claims

Crean said a choice had to be made between protecting the individual and protecting the office of Governor-General.

His choice was for the office, he said.

The Governor-General is now in New Zealand where he will meet the Queen, who is on a golden jubilee tour of a number of British Commonwealth countries.

The controversy over Hollingworth comes at an awkward time for the Queen, who will be in Australia next week as part of that tour and to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Coolum, Queensland.

Howard said that Hollingworth, who met Howard Thursday morning, had not offered him his resignation but said that the Governor-General was having a difficult and stressful time because of the furor.

And the controversy over Hollingworth's actions while archbishop is unlikely to dissipate despite the prime minister's show of support.

Apology

Prime minister Howard says the attitude of the opposition Labor party is unhelpful

Hollingworth's statement on Wednesday evening attempts to rebut 13 separate allegations that during 12 years as Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane, he covered up a series of child sexual abuse scandals involving a bishop, priests, school teachers and officials in the Anglican Church.

"I exercised my judgment in each of those cases in good faith," Hollingworth said.

"I do not pretend that all my judgments have been perfect. I regret those I may have got wrong," he said.

On Thursday morning, Hollingworth went further and publicly apologized to a woman who had been sexually abused as a 15-year-old by an Anglican priest.

Hollingworth backtracked on earlier statements he had made on this particular case which had implied the teenager had been to blame for the sexual relationship occurring.

Hollingworth said his comments have been misconstrued.

Regrettable

"I want to make an unreserved apology to the woman concerned and to the whole of the Australian public, that was not what I meant," he said.

The decision by the Labor party to call for Hollingworth's resignation has now politicized the issue, ensuring an ongoing public debate on the government's decision.

There are also expected to be fresh allegations made by media organizations on Hollingworth's behavior at the weekend.

Howard said he thought the Labor party's decision was "regrettable" and "unhelpful".

The role of governor-general is largely ceremonial but as head of state he or she is empowered to dissolve parliament, effectively dismissing the elected government.

This has occurred once in Australia in 1975 when then governor-general John Kerr dismissed the Labor government of Gough Whitlam.