Updated
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is coming under growing pressure to set up a national royal commission into allegations of child abuse within the Catholic Church.
The campaign has been fuelled by last week's explosive allegations by a senior New South Wales police investigator, who said the church had been involved in covering up evidence involving paedophile priests.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has set up an inquiry to investigate the claims, but federal independent MP Tony Windsor has described that response as "pathetic" and is demanding the Prime Minister take action.
"To have a regionally-based Hunter Valley inquiry almost makes a mockery of the people that have suffered under these abuses, and it needs to be national," Mr Windsor told AM.
"This is one of these issues that's going to keep gnawing away, and my advice to the Prime Minister and others - and I intend to communicate with her today - is that it's probably better to try and deal with this sooner rather than later.
"There's an enormous number of people out there that feel they've been affected by this, and they feel as though the system is letting them down."
An online petition has been launched this morning by a group including lawyer Josh Bornstein and retired Catholic priest Father Bob Maguire, calling on Ms Gillard to act on the "irrefutable" evidence of widespread sexual abuse of children within the church.
Labor backbenchers have begun voicing their support for such a move, including Senator Doug Cameron, who has described the allegations as a "stain on Australian society".
"I think the Federal Government needs to have a look at this and we need to a national overview on these issues," Senator Cameron told ABC News 24.
"I'd like to get a broad terms of reference, a national terms of reference, and let's focus on this and get rid of this stain on our society."
In a newspaper opinion piece on the weekend, Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said the New South Wales inquiry was a "measured and justified response".
He rejected suggestions the Catholic Church has not cooperated with police investigations, and pointed to "major procedural changes" that have been implemented to deal with the issue.
But supporters of a royal commission say the New South Wales inquiry does not go far enough because the issue of church abuse does not stop at state borders.
"This is something that crosses jurisdictions - having a state-by-state piece meal approach is simply not good enough," independent senator Nick Xenophon told ABC News 24.
"This is not about singling out any particular church, it's about doing the right thing by victims and making sure there are some systemic changes and some law reform if necessary to deal with this problem."
Former Labor MP turned independent Craig Thomson is backing calls for a nationally constituted royal commission, and says it is in the church's interests to cooperate with such an investigation.
"[They are] very serious allegations over a long period of time, with very credible people raising these issues, and I think any government would be very concerned at hearing those allegations," he told ABC News Online.
"Doing nothing isn't an option in relation to this."
Topics: royal-commissions, catholic, sexual-offences, federal-government, australia
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