Blind trusts of the kind Christian Porter used to partially pay for his defamation case against the ABC have been explicitly banned by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in a new code of conduct for his ministers.
While in opposition, Labor had attempted to have Porter, the former attorney general, disciplined for failing to declare who had contributed to the fund he used to pay for the ultimately aborted defamation court action he instigated against the ABC.
Porter disclosed that the Legal Services Trust had part-paid fees in his declaration of interests, but that he did not know the identity of the donors, and referred to the fund as a “blind trust”. He maintained he had properly disclosed his interests in accordance with both the rules and the ministerial standards.
In October, the Morrison government blocked Labor’s attempt to have the parliamentary privileges committee examine Porter’s declaration.
The committee still inquired into blind trusts after a separate referral from the shadow attorney general. It found Porter did not breach parliamentary rules but recommended they be amended to uphold the “intent and integrity” of the register of interests.
Labor vowed to change the code of conduct if it won government to ensure the situation could not be repeated.
Albanese’s code, which will apply to his entire ministry, including assistant ministers, is based on the previous code the 2013 Rudd Labor government established – with two key differences, both related to “blind trust” arrangements.
“Ministers will not have any direct shareholdings. Ministers are required to divest themselves of shareholdings, except in superannuation and other broadly diversified managed funds. There will be no ‘blind trust’ arrangements,” the code sets out.
“Ministers will be personally responsible for their private interests. Ministers won’t be allowed to delegate that responsibility to anyone else, such as in a ‘blind trust’ arrangement.”
The Turnbull government era “bonk ban” – established after Barnaby Joyce’s extramarital relationship with one of his staffers became public – also remained in place.
That rule prohibited relationships between ministers and staff within their own office.
Ministerial staffers will also have to provide a written declaration of their own private interests to the minister they work for, and a new ministerial staff code of conduct has been issued for all ministerial offices.
In 2019, a review into the Australian public service carried out by David Thodey recommended a separate code of conduct for ministerial advisers, but the Morrison government declined to implement the change, saying it was happy with the status quo.
Ministerial staffers can exert significant influence in the office they work within, but were not subject to the same scrutiny as other public servants.
“Given the significant role they play in the Australian political system, the review considers it appropriate that the roles and responsibilities of ministerial advisers be formally recognised in a legislated code of conduct, with effective mechanisms for accountability and compliance with the code,” the Thodey review laid out.
The Albanese government has enacted a staff code which a spokesperson said “reinforces the government’s commitment to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all staff”.
The new codes deliver on the promise his government would be “open and accountable”, Albanese said in a statement.
“I expect ministers to uphold the highest of standards in both their professional and personal lives.”
In one of his final acts as prime minister, Scott Morrison quietly amended the code of conduct he issued for his own ministry, to deal with allegations of assault, sexual assault, harassment, sexual harassment, and bullying.
The ministerial code of conduct is issued by each prime minister. It outlines what behaviour is expected from ministers and forms part of their responsibilities. Breaches of the code, if proven, can lead to the loss of a ministry.
