Labor push for fresh probe into Christian Porter’s legal fees

A new probe into former attorney-general Christian Porter could be on the cards if one politician has his way.

Former attorney-general Christian Porter could be the subject of a fresh probe if Labor has its way.

The opposition wants Mr Porter’s use of a blind trust to fund part of his legal fees for defamation action against the ABC investigated by the parliament’s privileges committee.

Manager of opposition business Tony Burke on Monday asked for the matter to be referred to the committee so it could determine if the Pearce MP acted in contempt of parliament.

Labor’s Tony Burke has asked parliament to review Christian Porter’s blind trust. Picture: Tim Pascoe

“This is not a case of an MP making an honest mistake. This is not a case of carelessness. This is a deliberate and calculated attempt to avoid the entire purpose of the (members’ interests) registry,” Mr Burke told parliament on Monday.

Mr Porter has maintained he properly disclosed his interests in accordance with requirements.

But in September, he stood down from cabinet, stating the issue had become an “unhelpful distraction”.

“Ultimately, I decided that if I have to make a choice between seeking to pressure the trust to break individuals’ confidentiality in order to remain in cabinet, or alternatively forego my cabinet position, there is only one choice I could, in all conscience, make,“ Mr Porter said in a lengthy statement.

Christian Porter resigned from the frontbench in September after six years in cabinet. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Adam Yip

Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the time said he considered the matter dealt with following Mr Porter’s resignation.

But in a fresh attack, Mr Burke argued if the house allowed the precedent to stand it could render the register of interests “worthless”.

“It means that any member of parliament can set up a trust and instruct the trustee to accept donations on a confidential basis only and then receive the cash from any source all the while saying, ‘Well I couldn’t tell you where my donations are coming from because they were given on the basis of confidentiality’,” he told the house.

“This behaviour empowers other MPs to create such a trust as a means of escaping the disclosure obligations as an elected member of this house.”

Speaker Tony Smith will consider the referral and report back to the house later this week.

Originally published as Labor push for fresh probe into Christian Porter’s legal fees