Scott Morrison personally used MinterEllison defamation lawyer Peter Bartlett in 2020 and then in October 2020, after a recommendation from Scott Morrison, Attorney-General Christian Porter used Peter Bartlett in regards to “defamatory posts on YouTube”. Who, when, where and why are unknown so I emailed Peter Bartlett questions as per below.
The reason that the relationship between Scott Morrison, Christian Porter and MinterEllison defamation lawyer Peter Bartlett is publicly known is that Peter Bartlett sent an email to the staff at MinterEllison discussing the relationship and the email was leaked to the media which would have to be a massive breach of confidentiality. It could be argued that just sending the email to the MinterEllison staff was a breach of confidentiality but the Prime Minister hasn’t complained so I suspect it was leaked to the media with his approval or on his instructions.
The background
On Wednesday the 3rd of March 2021 Attorney-General Christian Porter held a press conference confirming he was the cabinet minister accused of raping Katharine Thornton in 1988. I had named him on this website the day before. (Click here to read more)
On the same day, an email was sent to 2000 MinterEllison staff from the CEO which leaked to the media and it was reported 2 days later (5/3/21) by the SMH:
An internal email is causing furore among staff at the nation’s largest law firm after the head of MinterEllison criticised a senior partner for taking on Attorney-General Christian Porter as a client.
In an email sent to the firm’s more than 2000 staff on Wednesday, chief executive Annette Kimmitt revealed she’d only learnt that lawyer Peter Bartlett was representing Mr Porter after the Attorney-General went public to deny historical rape allegations. (Click here to read more)
The SMH then reported on the 9th of March:
Ms Kimmitt said she only found out about Mr Bartlett’s involvement through the media.
Mr Bartlett responded to her criticism on the same day. He said in the email, parts of which were first reported by The Australian last week, that he was “still coming to grips with the emails from Annette to all staff and all partners … I think you are entitled to the background”.
He said had been working for Mr Morrison in a defamation matter and then, in October last year, at the Prime Minister’s recommendation, received instructions from Mr Porter over some “defamatory posts” on a YouTube channel.
He said Mr Porter later sought advice from him about how to respond to questions raised by the ABC’s Four Corners program last year. Mr Porter contacted him again after the ABC broke the story that a rape allegation had been made against a current federal minister. (Click here to read more)
The internal fight at MinterEllison didn’t end well and CEO Annette Kimmitt left MinterEllison last week after being forced out after the email she sent to staff was leaked to the media.
Scott Morrison with (From left to right) MinterEllison Chairman David O’Brien, Attorney-General Christian Porter and lawyer Peter Bartlett
A Prime Minister suing or threatening to sue for defamation is a public interest story and so is an Attorney-General suing or threatening to sue for defamation, so I have followed up with the email below and this article, which for some reason no other media have.
From: SHANE DOWLING
Sent: Wednesday, 17 March 2021 2:01 PM
To: peter.bartlett@minterellison.com
Cc: virginia.briggs@minterellison.com; david.obrien@minterellison.com
Subject: Scott Morrison’s personal lawyer Peter Bartlett – Media questions
Dear Mr Peter Bartlett, Interim CEO Virginia Briggs and Chairman David O’Brien
I will be publishing an article regarding recent media reports that Prime Minister Scott Morrison retained Mr Peter Bartlett for personal defamation representation in 2020, which might also still be current, and also Mr Peter Bartlett’s representation of Attorney-General Christian Porter. The questions I have are:
- Can you advise whether Scott Morrison personally paid for MinterEllison’s legal services in 2020?
- Did the legal services that MinterEllison provided Scott Morrison previously require court action and/or require future court action?
- Can you advise whether or not MinterEllison are still retained by Scott Morrison now?
- Did Scott Morrison personally pay for the legal services provided by MinterEllison in 2021?
- Did the legal advice given to Scott Morrison relate to my book “Australia’s Paedophile Protection Racket” which was published in September 2020?
- Can you advise of the specific nature of the representation for Scott Morrison? As I note media reports that Mr Bartlett represented Christian Porter regarding alleged defamatory YouTube posts in 2020. Was it the same or similar for Scott Morrison?
- Can you confirm that MinterEllison is currently working on $93 million of federal government contracts as reported in the media? If the figure is incorrect can you advise what the correct figure is?
- Do you agree there is a massive conflict of interest for MinterEllison to do work for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and at the same time working on $93 million of federal government contracts?
- Was Scott Morrison given a discount for his personal legal services by MinterEllison because of the $93 million of federal government contracts MinterEllison has?
- Who in the Prime Minister’s office phoned Peter Bartlett to thank him for representing Christian Porter regarding the rape allegation? What was the involvement of the Prime Minister’s office?
Please respond by 6pm today in case I have further questions and so I can publish.
Regards
Shane Dowling
End of Email
Peter Bartlett read my email straight away as I received the below read receipt but he has not responded to the questions at this point.
From: Peter Bartlett <Peter.Bartlett@minterellison.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 17 March 2021 2:01 PM
To: SHANE DOWLING
Subject: Read: Scott Morrison’s personal lawyer Peter Bartlett – Media questions
Your message
To: Peter Bartlett
Subject: Scott Morrison’s personal lawyer Peter Bartlett – Media questions
Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2021 3:00:34 PM (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
was read on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 3:01:04 PM (UTC+10:00) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney.
Email end
The government confirmed last week that “Cabinet ministers Christian Porter and Linda Reynolds are paying their own legal fees after engaging lawyers in separate matters, with the Defence Minister also potentially personally liable in the event of a defamation payout. The federal government and Liberal Party have confirmed they will not pay the costs for defamation cases.” (Click here to read more)
So why didn’t the government also confirm whether or not Scott Morrison is paying for his own legal fees? Why didn’t MinterEllison answer the same question I put in the email above? It is certain that as soon as Peter Bartlett received the email above that he would have forwarded it to the Prime Ministers office who could have also answered the questions.
In the last article published on this website two of the questions that I emailed to the new lawyers of Attorney-General Christian Porter which may be relevant to his use of defamation lawyer Peter Bartlett were:
4. Can you confirm that Christian Porter has previously settled sexual assault/harassment claims made against him by other women as suggested by a journalist at the press conference in Perth on Wednesday the 3rd of March 2021?
5. Can you confirm that Christian Porter has had sexual relationships with staff members or other parliament house staff? (Click here for the full article)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his office have dozens of staff who try to manipulate the media on a daily basis and we now know instituting legal proceedings and/or making legal threats are some of the tools they are using as the above proves but which was previously unknown to the public.
Who Scott Morrison and Christian Porter sued or threatened to sue last year should be disclosed as it is in the public interest to know the basic details at the very least.
It is possible to go to court and get a super-injunction so people can’t even confirm there is a court case and I know that for a fact because I previously had a super-injunction instituted against me by Kerry Stokes and another by Capilano Honey with both eventually being lifted. And maybe Scott Morrison and/or Christian Porter have instituted defamation proceeding and obtained a super-injunction.
This matter needs to be investigated further which I will do and if anyone out there knows more please let me know.
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Categories: Attorney-General Christian Porter
It’s a tangled spiders web of intrigue and protection isn’t it ? These people actually believe they are above the law. They are living delusional little lives where they can get away with whatever they like. Morrison is one of the most disgusting specimens of humanity I have ever seen. To have a worm like this leading the country as he communicates with the sky fairy and consorts with the pedophile protectionist and scam artist from Hillsong is so embarrassing and demeaning to our society. I have never wanted to commit crime so much in my life. The whole LNP ministry seems to be hand-picked with three attributes in mind, 1) Are they corrupt? 2) Will they support more corruption by the Liberal party? 3) Will they support their corrupt and clueless leader to the end and close ranks on threats to expose corruption by this vile government? I hate these people with a passion and wish them nothing but pain and suffering.
I agree with everything you say David. This would have to be the MOST corrupt, inept government we have ever had. What is making it worse is their denial of everything. Nothing to see here………………garbage I say. The more they deny, the more guilty they are. What worries me the most is how are we going to rid the country of these crooks?
Even Trump could not lower himself to have the scam artist from Hillsong at a dinner he hosted.
Super-Injunction, really! These politicians are extremely secretive and getting worse by the day.
The way they operate and change the rules to serve themselves is unbelievable to me.
No transparency and definitely no real accountability. I thought the legal professions were dens of thieves and liars but they have nothing on politicians it seems.
Thank you for exposing and telling us about your research, it is very much appreciated, especially when you appear to be the only one that I trust for information.
I agree with Pete. You, Shane are the only one we can trust. We will continue to support you. The sooner we get rid of corrupt Politicians, Judges, Lawyers and Cops the better off we’ll all be. Pls God, let it happen soon!
The post says:
“It could be argued that just sending the email to the MinterEllison staff was a breach of confidentiality but the Prime Minister hasn’t complained so I suspect it was leaked to the media with his approval or on his instructions.”
I would say “Could be argued …” understates it – it is a breach pure and simple. Peter Bartlett’s full email.
—-
I’ve worked with many corporate, employment and other partners over the years to try and protect their clients from media exposure, some of whom who have been accused of harassment and more. I have advised many federal and state ministers, premiers and prime ministers from both parties. This week I received a call from the PM’s office thanking me for trying to assist the AG.
These are the leaders of one of the firm’s largest clients.
Normally in such matters I’m working behind the scenes. It came as a shock to me and the AG late yesterday when my name appeared in the media.
With the claims against the AG, I would have thought that a majority of our partners would believe that everyone is entitled to a presumption of innocence and legal representation.
Sent at 1.49pm, Wednesday, March 3
—
was sent to over 250 partners at MinterEllison which given the febrile atmosphere there, blind-freddy could have anticipated its leaking. Just to get the story right, it was not done with the approval of the PMO but by one of the partners straight to the AFR. In fact, on the contrary I’d say that the PM would have been mightily pissed-off at Bartlett’s imprudent namedropping since his breach revealed how the PM is even more closely entwined with Porter’s defense than realized (note that in Porter’s subsequent defamation action ME has pretty much been bypassed altogether so Bartlett’s loose lips have already cost ME big-time but I expect this is just the beginning)
The subsequent sacking of ME’s femaile CEO as a result of the first email was of course disgraceful and regardless of your legal position on this it will alienate many current and prospective female employees. When the shit hit the fan a few days later, ME’s damage control via tweet was as pathetic as it was transparent.
—
In celebration of International Women’s Day, we hosted a panel discussing women in the workplace and LGBTQ+ inclusion.
These women graciously shared their experiences and insights to help us understand how to create more inclusive and supportive workplaces.
Sent at 7.17 am 8 Mar 2021
—
Could it be that Morrison used the Minterellison lawyer to shut someone up who was getting too close for comfort regarding his termination as MD of Tourism Australia. The timing is not exactly close but maybe there was more to come from Karen Middleton.