Christian Porter: Scandal may yet rebound against Morrison

Cartoon: Johannes Leak

The legal, political and moral questions that have confronted Scott Morrison ever since the publication of allegations that Christian Porter had raped a 16-year-old girl more than 30 years ago have been diabolical.

The legal issues may have abated, thanks to the unsurprising decision by NSW police not to proceed with an investigation after they were approached by the woman last year, but the political and moral repercussions will endure, probably for years, despite the Attorney-General’s press conference on Wednesday identifying himself as the person at the centre of the allegations and declaring his innocence.

Porter was emotional, distressed, defiant and lawyerly as he insisted repeatedly that what had been asserted as having happened had never happened. He maintained he would not stand aside because of the precedent it would set but announced he would be taking leave to have his mental health assessed.

Saying he needed to take a break “for my own sanity”, Porter asserted he would return to his job after a couple of weeks. Perhaps. If he does it would be temporary.

It is an unstable situation. Porter’s position is untenable, partly because of the sensitive nature of his job as the chief law officer of the land and partly because the damage has been so great.

The Prime Minister’s referral of the matter to the police, knowing an investigation was unlikely, was seemingly designed to give Porter time to decide to out himself, prepare his defences, consider his future and clear colleagues who were being maligned during the guessing games over the alleged culprit’s name.

Morrison knew the risky strategy would cost him skin, but he places great store on colleagues seeing him standing by another colleague. Not to mention allowing for the public mood to be assessed.

It may yet rebound. Labor will not back off, nor will friends of Porter’s accuser, which means neither will journalists. It means it will remain a serious problem for the government when parliament resumes, and it means Porter’s political career is destined to end. That is the reality Porter now faces and that Morrison has to deal with.

Barely a day has passed since Brittany Higgins’s rape allegations against a Liberal staff member were made public three weeks ago without her story, or other allegations of abuse, dominating the news cycles.

A government that prides itself on its control has been thrown off course. At some point the damage will be reflected in the polls. If Coalition MPs are not troubled by the principles involved, and many of them are, that will make more of them even more apprehensive.

One of the ongoing problems for Morrison with these scandals that have engulfed his government, that have the potential to bring them all down — scandals have been known to do that — is that his explanations for his ignorance about them stretch credulity, not just with the media but among those familiar with the way government works, including the people who sit behind him.

Attorney-General Christian Porter faces the media on Wednesday. Picture: AFP

“Too many spinners, not enough fixers,” one said, lamenting Morrison’s approach. His responses have ranged from deficient to tardy, from highly empathetic to hugely matter-of-fact or dismissive.

Morrison did not read the dossier he had been sent about Porter, simply relying on a brief before speaking to him and obtaining his assurance the allegations were false.

The Prime Minister said he first heard rumours last year, around the time of the ABC’s Four Corners program Inside the Canberra Bubble, which focused on Porter and fellow cabinet minister Alan Tudge. Morrison said he did not know who or what the rumours were about. He should have made it his business to find out, especially as the government fought tooth and nail to stop that program airing.

Hopefully he took some time to listen to Australian of the Year Grace Tame address the National Press Club on Wednesday on sexual abuse. She had many wise words for all of us, including him.

Labor watched the government urge the media, politicians and others to back off Porter, given NSW police decided not to proceed, and to take the same approach to reporting this matter as they did to the historical rape allegations against Bill Shorten that surfaced during his tenure as opposition leader. In that case the woman who made the allegations was alive, her complaint was fully investigated by police and it was dismissed.

 

That story disappeared until last Sunday. Then Labor figures also remembered something else.

According to Samantha Maiden’s book Party Animals, Morrison alluded to the allegations during the final question time before calling the 2019 election, psyching out Shorten and leaving him fearful it would become an issue during the campaign.

So while acknowledging Porter is entitled to a presumption of innocence, Anthony Albanese and his frontbenchers have also insisted on a closer examination of the allegations to determine whether he is “fit to serve in his present role”.

A woman has died throughout this truly horrible saga. An ambitious, clever politician has seen his dreams of becoming prime minister slip away. People close to Porter believe he will quit politics.

There will be an electoral redistribution in the West later this year. The boundaries of his seat appear certain to change, making it more marginal, or it will be merged with Cowan, now held by Labor’s Anne Aly.

Even before this, following his marriage breakdown and the death of his father, Porter apparently had been thinking of not going around again.

Porter now resides in a twilight zone, forced to live with the allegations for the rest of his days. He will be unable to have his innocence confirmed by a court of law, while the woman’s friends vow to continue the fight on her behalf to brand him guilty.

There can be no resolution. There will be an ending, most likely with Porter’s departure from politics.

It may not be fair, it may not be right, it does not provide justice for him or for her, but in the political world that’s what happens.