Coalition shields Porter from scrutiny over secret trust

Tom McIlroyCanberra Bureau Chief

Oct 20, 2021 – 6.31pm

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The Morrison government has used its numbers in Parliament to block the referral of Christian Porter to a powerful scrutiny committee, the latest turn in the saga of his abandoned legal action against the ABC.

Labor sought to have the House of Representatives Privileges Committee consider the former attorney-general’s decision to have a secret trust pay his legal bills, prompting his resignation from cabinet last month.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.