Julie Bishop ‘won’t support Labor on Peter Dutton eligibility’

Julie Bishop has confirmed she won’t support a Labor motion to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court over his eligibility.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton. Picture Kym Smith

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been offered a reprieve from his own side after Julie Bishop confirmed she would not support a Labor motion to refer him to the High Court.

Days after leaving open the possibility of backing Mr Dutton’s referral under section 44 of the Constitution, Ms Bishop today told The Australian: “Based on current information, I would vote against such a motion.”

Labor has the support of four crossbenchers to test Mr Dutton’s eligibility but two Coalition MPs would need to abstain or cross the floor in order for the referral to be successful.

Mr Dutton and Scott Morrison said earlier today they did not believe Liberal MPs would cross the floor to side with Labor following weeks of scrutiny over an arrangement between the Commonwealth and the Minister’s Family Trust.

The Home Affairs Minister also talked up his relationship with Ms Bishop, the former Liberal deputy leader and country’s first female foreign minister.

“I haven’t spoken to Julie Bishop (since last week). I have a very good relationship with Julie, she’s one of our greatest foreign affairs ministers,” Mr Dutton said.

“These issues are being raised for political purposes, it was raised as I say by the Labor Party in October of last year and they didn’t raise it again so I am very confident in my position.”

Mr Dutton is the beneficiary of the RHT Family Trust, the trustee of which is RHT Investments, which owns the Camelia Avenue Childcare Centre in Queensland and which receives federal money in the form of the Child Care Subsidy.

The childcare centre also ­received more than $15,000 under the government’s Inclusion Development Fund to provide a teacher for children with special needs — an arrangement that ­required a separate agreement.

Ms Bishop, a staunch Turnbull supporter, said last Thursday she would “make (her) mind up” about referring Mr Dutton at the time of a vote and called for “clarity” around the standing of all MPs.

Malcolm Turnbull intervened in domestic politics from New York — on the night of the press gallery’s annual Mid Winter Ball — revealing he had urged the Prime Minister and other colleagues to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court to “clarify the matter”.

Ms Bishop is not in federal Parliament today but has been granted a pair.

Mr Morrison would not say if he had spoken to Ms Bishop when pressed on whether a number of his MPs could vote to refer Mr Dutton.

“I just don’t think that is going to happen,” he told 5AA radio. “We considered this issue in the parliament just over three weeks ago and resolved not to do that as a parliament and there is nothing to change that view.”

A majority of MPs must support a referral motion for a person’s election to be tested in court.

Leader of the House Christopher Pyne said Labor was “just playing games” and warned there were “half a dozen” people on the opposition’s side with eligibility clouds over their heads regarding dual citizenship.