Scott Morrison seeks advice over secretive $1m donation for Christian Porter’s legal fees

Christian Porter’s frontbench future up in the air as Scott Morrison requests advice on whether secretive $1m donation breaches ministerial guidelines.

Scott Morrison, right, has spoken to Christian Porter about the trust. Picture: Gary Ramage

Scott Morrison says he is prepared to make “difficult decisions” over Christian Porter’s future on the frontbench if he is found to have breached ministerial guidelines over his secret legal trust.

The Prime Minister has sought urgent advice about whether a secretive $1m donation to pay for his legal fees breached ministerial guidelines,.

Speaking in Canberra, Mr Morrison said he was taking the matter seriously and would ensure that the guidelines had not been breached.

“I have taken decisions in the past, difficult decisions, when I believe they haven’t been adhered to,” he told reporters.

“On these issues, I will follow the same processes. I will deal with it carefully.”

But Anthony Albanese has called for Mr Porter to “go today.”

“It is simply untenable for a minister of the Crown to receive up to $1m from sources unknown in order to pursue a private legal matter and then say he doesn’t know where the money came from,” the Opposition Leader said.

“There is such a stench around this and around Christian Porter that all that is missing is a cloud of blow flies. This stinks.”

Mr Porter disclosed the payment from a blind trust on Tuesday but said he did not know the origin of the money.

The Australian understands Mr Porter’s role in cabinet is now under discussion at the highest levels.

Mr Morrison spoke to Mr Porter on Wednesday about the trust, which is helping to cover a reported $1m in fees accumulated in the former attorney-general’s defamation case against the ABC over the airing of allegations Mr Porter raped a now-deceased woman in 1988.

Mr Porter, who strenuously denies the rape allegations and settled with the ABC two months ago, put the blind trust on his register of interests this week, and said he did not know anything about the trust’s funding or its mechanisms.

Labor has called on Mr Porter to reveal who his benefactors are, and the Greens are planning to push a motion of no confidence against him in the House of ­Representatives.

A spokesman for Mr Morrison said the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet was investigating whether the use of the blind trust was in line with ministerial standards and any actions Mr Porter should take.

“The Prime Minister is taking this matter seriously and has discussed the matter with the minister,” the spokesman said. “The Prime Minister is seeking advice from his department on any impli­cations for the ministerial standards and any actions the minister must take to ensure that he meets the standards.”

Options for Mr Porter if he is found to have breached ministerial guidelines include paying back any donations given to the fund or revealing the names of the trust’s donors.

Anthony Albanese, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and public transparency groups on Wednesday all called on Mr ­Morrison to intervene and ­address the propriety of Mr ­Porter’s legal arrangements.

Mr Porter sued the ABC in May, losing his ­attorney-general role over fears court proceedings would create the impression of a conflict of interest for the ­nation’s first law officer.

The article by ABC reporter Louise Milligan reported that a then unnamed cabinet minister was alleged to have raped a woman in 1988.

The ABC did not apologise for the article, which remains ­online, but agreed to add a note that said the broadcaster did not intend to suggest Mr Porter was guilty of the allegations.

The Federal Court in August ruled to bar the media and public from accessing secret parts of the ABC’s written defence.

The Opposition Leader said Mr Porter’s blind trust did not “pass the pub test” and he doubted Mr Porter would not know who contributed to the legal fund. “Christian Porter absolutely must disclose every single dollar, where it came from, transparently, so people can see what the basis of this is,” he said.

“It is just not believable that people have somehow found out about this fund and made contributions to this fund without Christian Porter’s knowledge.

“It doesn’t pass the pub test. I know pubs are closed at the moment, but this does not pass the pub test.”

The Australian approached Mr Porter for comment.

Despite his recent contro­versies, Mr Porter is contesting the next election in his West Australian seat of Pearce and was the only Liberal to nominate for preselection in the electorate this week. Labor plans to target the seat – which sits on a margin of more than 3 per cent – and has chosen long-time mayor Tracey Roberts as its candidate.

Mr Turnbull, who appointed Mr Porter to cabinet in 2015, ­attacked the blind trust, saying it was an “affront to transparency”.

“This flies in the face of every principle of transparency and accountability in public life,” he told ABC radio. “I will be even more staggered if the Prime Minister allows this to stand.”