The problems with Porter
Parliament is full of people who think it their destiny to be prime minister. Christian Porter, a product of the cliquey Perth elite, is a classic example.
His paternal grandfather was a minister in Queensland’s corrupt Bjelke-Petersen government. His father â€" Charles “Chilla†Porter â€" won the high jump silver medal at the Melbourne ’56 Olympics, and became a powerbroker in the WA Liberal Party. Sadly, Chilla died last year just as his son became engulfed in the scandal of an historic rape allegation that he strongly denies.
Part of Christian Porter’s legal fees for his defamation action were paid by a blind trust.Credit:Dionne Gain
Christian Porter’s early career as a prosecutor marked him as a charming, effective and ambitious lawyer set to be a bigger fish in a larger pond. He became state attorney-general by his late 30s and switched to federal politics five years later.
The world was at his feet, but he has become a political liability, a glittering star who failed to fulfil their potential. How did this happen?
Last week, Porter declared that he had received an unspecified sum of money from an unknown source as a contribution towards massive legal bills from a failed defamation battle against the ABC. It is beyond satire that a politician who introduced laws demanding greater transparency for political donations accepts an anonymous donation himself. Is he exempt from his own laws?
Christian Porter at a press conference in March to address the rape allegations, which he strenuously denies.Credit:Trevor Collens
The contrivance of a blind trust as the receptacle for an untraceable gift from a mystery donor, is nothing but legal trickery writ large. The arrogance is breathtaking, betraying a smart-aleck lawyer mindset.
Christian Porter’s response to the unprecedented pressure of the rape allegation has been wrong at almost every turn. After the ABC reported an unnamed senior minister had been accused of an historical sex offence, Porter chose to identify himself. He vigorously protested his innocence, hoping his press conference would put an end to the matter. He was wrong.
He subsequently sued the ABC for defamation and vowed he wanted his day in court to clear his name.
His barrister took on the case despite the obvious conflict of interest of having already given advice to another person involved. The ethical oversight was indefensible but stubbornly maintained by both lawyer and client until challenged in court. The then attorney-general argued the ethical rules that apply to everyone else did not apply to his counsel.
He next underestimated the extraordinary lengths the ABC had gone to, triple-checking every assertion in their report. When his claim to have been defamed was abandoned with no apology, no damages paid and no retraction of any of the substance of the story, he bizarrely claimed that as a victory. The ABC made a pragmatic contribution of a mere $100,000 to the cost of mediation and the story remains online, albeit with an explanatory note attached.
Porter claimed the matter was over. Yet again, he was wrong as South Australian police are finalising their brief for a coronial inquest into the death of Porter’s accuser.
Christian Porter during question time in Parliament last month. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The reality is that Porter was already coming unstuck. As a senior minister in the Turnbull and Morrison governments he was expected to deliver on significant reforms in industrial relations, family law, a national anti-corruption commission, whistleblower protection and those already mentioned political donation reforms. None have succeeded.
The only family law ‘reform’ achieved has been to appease Pauline Hanson and her disgruntled men’s rights campaigners. The specialist cross disciplinary Family Court has been merged into the Federal Court. It is regress, not progress and will most likely one day need to be reversed.
In July 2019 Porter addressed the fallout from the Royal Commission into Trade Union Corruption, chaired by the since-disgraced Dyson Heydon. He spoke about the importance of transparency in financial dealings, avoiding conflicts of interest and the imperative of disclosure for good governance … of trade unions.
His other main job was to establish Australia’s national anti-corruption commission. As was pointed out this week by the shadow A-G Mark Dreyfus QC, it is now 1000 days since Porter and the Prime Minister committed to the concept - but we are still waiting for action.
The flimsy drafts released are grossly inadequate and would not have the power to investigate, for instance, a minister accepting a donation through a blind trust, or in even more serious cases, a bribe. His model has been dismissed by every independent integrity organisation.
Porter has also been Minister for Industrial Relations. Last week one of the few jobs he claimed to have completed came unstuck when the full bench of the Fair Work Commission ruled that the demerger of the CFMMEU could not proceed under the laws he introduced. Another clanger.
On his watch, Porter appointed 12 Liberals to the AAT, taking the total of identifiably political appointees during the Abbott /Turnbull/Morrison years to 57, plus former Liberal minister Sophie Mirabella, who was recently appointed to the Fair Work Commission.
Blind trust or not, Christian Porter’s political career is beyond rescue, whatever the PM’s review decides.
Jon Faine is a regular columnist. He has worked on contract for the state government.
Jon Faine is a former radio presenter on ABC 774.
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