Prime Minister Scott Morrison to reveal cabinet reshuffle after Christian Porter resignation

Scott Morrison is expected to announce a shake-up to his cabinet today, after the resignation of former attorney-general Christian Porter.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Olivier DOULIERY / AFP

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to announce a cabinet reshuffle in Canberra today following the resignation of former Industry Minister Christian Porter.

Government sources have confirmed the reshuffle is expected to be announced before today’s national cabinet meeting, and it could be more substantial than expected.

The cabinet reshuffle is also expected to reignite speculation that Mr Morrison could go to an early election in November or December.

Mr Porter triggered the reshuffle when he resigned from cabinet on September 19 over his refusal to disclose the donors to blind trust established to fund his defamation battle with the ABC.

Christian Porter’s resignation triggered the reshuffle. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Mr Morrison revealed at the time that the former attorney-general had “tendered his resignation and I have accepted it” after he was unable to provide more information on his mystery benefactor or benefactors.

Several WA businessmen and lawyers have refused to confirm or deny they contributed to the fund to help Mr Porter.

In his resignation statement, Mr Porter said he was the victim of vile abuse over the “false allegations” that he had raped a woman as a teenager and the “trial by media” that had unfolded had set a new and disturbing standard in Australia.

“After my experience it now seems to be a part of modern public life that if you are a politician, particularly a conservative politician, a mere allegation is considered enough to warrant an accusation being widely published, regardless of its inability to be proven to a civil or criminal standard,’’ he said.

“From the moment the ABC article was published, I entered what appears to me now to be an inescapable media frenzy where the evidence, or in this case lack of it, appeared to be irrelevant. Instead, all that appeared to matter was the presence of an accusation.

“The most frightening indicator that the public broadcaster was central to this shift to a presumption of guilt in a trial by media is the fact that the ABC – seemingly with great care and effort – has reported only those parts of the information that it has in its possession which feeds into its narrative of guilt,’’ he said.

More to come