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Former A-G Christian Porter resigns from front bench
Former Attorney-General Christian Porter has resigned after revealing he accepted an anonymous donation to cover his costly and personal legal fees.
Naomi Neilson
Prime Minister Scott Morrison fronted media on Sunday, 19 September to confirm that Mr Porter had resigned from his position on the front bench after being unable to provide the necessary information to “avoid any perception of conflicts of interest”.
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“He has taken the appropriate course of action to uphold those standards by tendering his resignation as a minister this afternoon, and I have accepted his resignation,” Mr Morrison said at the press conference.
The resignation comes days after Mr Porter declared that a blind trust, known as the Legal Services Trust, covered part of his legal fees. He said that as a potential beneficiary, he had no access to information about its conduct or who was behind it.
The fees were used to bring defamation action against the ABC over an article he alleged outed him as the minister accused of rape, despite it never naming him. Mr Porter continues to strenuously deny those allegations.
Although not confirmed, it has been reported that Mr Porter’s legal fees – along with his star legal team – would have cost the former Attorney-General up to $1 million.
Mr Porter returned to the Federal Court earlier this month to successfully shut down News Corporation and Nine’s titles from using information in the ABC’s defence for anything other than the current legal proceedings. He is due back in court to hear an appeal to overturn the decision to remove barrister Sue Chrysanthou from his team.
He may need to return to a courtroom again after political party TNL indicated that they intend to launch private action against Mr Porter.
More to come.
