Dutton: Porter showed great courage standing up to Turnbull

Peter Dutton believes Christian Porter showed great courage standing up to Malcolm Turnbull.

Christian Porter and Peter Dutton. Picture: Gary Ramage

Peter Dutton believes Attorney-General Christian Porter showed great courage standing up to Malcolm Turnbull during a fiery showdown over the Home Affairs Minister’s eligibility to sit in parliament during last year’s leadership spill.

The Australian exclusively revealed today that the former prime minister planned to persuade the Governor-General Peter Cosgrove not to commission Mr Dutton as prime minister because of doubts over his eligibility, in a last-ditch attempt to save his leadership the day before he was deposed.

In the August 23 clash in Mr Turnbull’s office, Mr Porter said the plan was “wrong in law” and could give misleading advice to the Governor-General. Mr Porter warned Mr Turnbull that if he went public, as the Attorney-General he would be obliged to publicly repudiate him.

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Mr Dutton has been at the centre of a section 44 furore for nearly a year, over his stake in two childcare centres run by his wife’s company that receive government subsidies, despite the Home Affairs minister releasing legal advice last year that cleared him of any breach.

Under section 44 of the constitution an MP can be found ineligible to sit in parliament if they are found to have “an office of profit’’ under the Crown.

Mr Dutton told 2GB radio he was impressed by the way Mr Porter stood up to Mr Turnbull.

“Christian Porter is a person of great integrity and decency,” he said. “And he really impressed me … because he didn’t take sides. He looked at what needed to be done as the Attorney-General of our country and he saw inappropriate behaviour taking place he called it out, he stood up to it and you’re right it was a gutsy move and I think he deserves full credit for it.”

Mr Dutton said he was offered the job of deputy Liberal leader, a claim Mr Turnbull disputes, after the former PM narrowly surviving the first challenge to his leadership.

The Home Affairs Minister believed this proved Mr Turnbull did not buy into the section 44 speculation, but used it as a delaying tactic.

“The offer of the job of Deputy Leader to me, which wasn’t Malcolm’s to give, but in addition to that asking me to come back as time Affairs Minister after I’d resigned on the Tuesday, demonstrates that he had no concern for my eligibility to sit in the parliament,” Mr Dutton said.

“The section 44 was always a ruse. The Labor party never raised it in the most recent election and it was only used as a delaying tactic to damage me, which he was able to do but in the end, I think we were able to, certainly from our perspective, and this was always important for me to have my integrity intact and I dealt with it in the best way possible I could.”

Mr Dutton refused to weigh into comments by Labor leader Anthony Albanese that he could refer himself to the High Court and finally put an end to the speculation over his eligibility to sit in federal parliament.

Mr Albanese said he would like to see the issue resolved “one way or the other’’.

“These are very serious revelations from Paul Kelly today that the then Prime Minister thought they were so serious that they would prevent Peter Dutton from being sworn in, if he was elected leader of the Liberal Party, as Prime Minister,” Mr Albanese told Sky News.

“It just shows the ongoing conflict of the Liberal party hasn’t gone away. When they gather in their party room next week those tensions will still be there.”

Asked if Labor would repeat past attempts to move a motion referring Mr Dutton to the High Court, Mr Albanese said: “We don’t need the parliament to do that of course, Peter Dutton could do that himself.”

The Constitution does not allow politicians to profit from agreements with the Commonwealth. Only the High Court can decide on Constitutional issues.

Mr Dutton released legal advice last year that says as long as the childcare centre received no profit there was not an issue.

Mr Albanese wouldn’t rule out Labor pursuing Mr Dutton over his eligibility when parliament resumes next week, saying the party would examine the issue “in the fullness of time”.