Christian Porter tipped to take helm at Home Affairs

Attorney-General Christian Porter is firming as the favourite to take over from Peter Dutton in the Home Affairs portfolio.

PM Malcolm Turnbull and Federal Attorney General Christian Porter. Picture: Colin Murty

Attorney-General Christian Porter is firming as the favourite to take over from Peter Dutton in the Home Affairs super portfolio, with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann also said to be in contention for the role.

Malcolm Turnbull announced Treasurer Scott Morrison would stand in as Acting Home Affairs Minister until Mr Dutton was ­replaced, given his knowledge of the portfolio as a former immigration minister.

The stop-gap appointment comes ahead of a crucial meeting of “five eyes” defence partners on the Gold Coast next week.

Government insiders said Mr Dutton’s replacement in the Home Affairs ministry would most likely be drawn from cabinet, suggesting the portfolio’s junior ministers Angus Taylor and Alan Tudge — both Dutton supporters — will be overlooked.

As Attorney-General, Mr Porter already occupies a key national security role and sits on cabinet’s national security committee, making him the prime candidate for the role, sources said.

Senator Cormann, as a key economics minister, also sits on the committee and was being spoken of yesterday as a possible replacement.

Shifting either of the senior ministers would create further critical vacancies. Senator Cormann’s would be particularly difficult to fill, while Mr Porter is in the midst of a series of reforms to the nation’s legal system.

Home ­Affairs is responsible for immigration, border protection and key security agencies, including ASIO and the Australian Federal Police.

Prior to the creation of the super-ministry in May, the ­attorney-general was responsible for the key security and justice functions of government.

The Prime Minister said he asked Mr Dutton to stay on in the portfolio but Mr Dutton refused.

It is understood that Mr Turnbull is comfortable with having Mr Morrison, one of the architects of the Home Affairs portfolio, acting in the portfolio in the short term.

Mr Dutton — who received death threats as home affairs minister — is expected to retain his personal security detail while on the backbench, with the AFP ­determining who gets close personal protection based on its own threat assessments.

Mr Dutton had been expected to attend the Five Country Ministerial meeting next week, a gathering of interior and homeland security ministers from Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.

Department of Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo has ­described the meeting as “pivotal”, saying Australia will use the ­opportunity to encourage the five eyes partners to collaborate more closely on domestic and border ­security threats.

The last meeting generated commitments to deal with online terror threats and propaganda, and improve vetting of travellers, migrants and refugees to counter security threats.

Home Affairs is at the centre of the government’s plans to deal with population pressures, through a plan to encourage new migrants to settle in regional areas. The department is also working to bring down the immigration ­intake through tougher enforcement of visa rules.

The approach brought down the annual skilled migration level last year to 163,000 — the lowest level in a decade.