Perth based MP Christian Porter used taxpayers’ money to help facilitate his relationship with his Sydney based girlfriend while on sick leave after rape allegations were made public and Andrew “Twiggy” Forest’s Fortescue Metals likely paid his legal bill via a secret “Blind Trust” that isn’t as secret as Porter claims. Both financial “irregularities” have been exposed in an expense report and a parliamentary declaration of interests.
Taxpayers pay for Christian Porter to visit his girlfriend in Sydney while he was on sick leave
On the 2nd of March 2021 I published an article which started off “Attorney-General Christian Porter is the alleged “Cabinet Minister Rapist” accused of raping 16-yr-old Katharine Thornton in 1988 in Sydney.” which went viral on social media (Click here to read more) and the following day (3/3/21) Christian Porter held a press conference outing himself as the cabinet minister accused of rape and then went on sick leave that lasted about 2 months. (Click here to read more)
During his time on sick leave Christian Porter instituted defamation proceedings against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan in the Federal Court in Sydney and spent time with his girlfriend in Sydney. Some might argue what Christian Porter did on sick leave is his business but from an expense report dated the 1st of April to 30th of June 2021 it looks like taxpayers paid to help facilitate both his relationship with his girlfriend and possibly for Mr Porter to spend time with his lawyers briefing them for the defamation matter.
It was reported on the 2nd of June:
Love has blossomed between former attorney-general Christian Porter and specialist criminal lawyer Karen Espiner, from Coogee in Sydney’s east, it was confirmed on Wednesday night. Rumours had abounded that Mr Porter, 50, from Perth, Western Australia, had been seen on beachside strolls with lawyer Karen Espiner in Coogee recently.
On Wednesday evening Ms Espiner, co-founder of local firm Younes + Espiner Lawyers, confirmed that the pair had struck up a romance. ‘We are in the early stages of a relationship,’ Ms Espiner said in a statement. ‘That relationship has not been a secret but it is a private matter which we do not intend to talk about in any detail.’ The couple’s romance appears to have come to light after the pair were seen together on a plane to Canberra. (Click here to read more)
The expense report dated the 1st of April to 30th of June 2021 says on page 3:
The Perth based Christian Porter was on sick leave from the 3rd of March until early May so why did he bill taxpayers for $768 for 6 nights in Coogee, which is in Sydney, in April 2021? I sent a Tweet message to Christian Porter on the 31st of August as per below:
Christian Porter has a long history of rarely responding to media questions and he didn’t respond to the above Tweet. The expense report also mentions $4831 for airfares from Perth to Sydney and return for the Coogee trip in April when he was on sick leave as per below on page 4:
(Click here for the full expense report dated the 31st July 2021)
I suspect some of the time Porter was in Sydney in April would have been spent also instructing his Sydney based lawyers on his defamation case against the ABC which also shouldn’t be paid for by the taxpayers.
The “Blind Trust” pays Porter’s legal fees. Money for nothing and from nowhere.
On Tuesday (14/9/21) it was widely reported that some of Christian Porter’s legal fees from his defamation case against the ABC had been paid for by a “blind trust” which Porter stated in a parliamentary declaration that was updated on the 14th of September 2021.
It was reported:
Malcolm Turnbull says Christian Porter’s decision to accept money without knowing the source was an “extraordinary abrogation of responsibility”, after the former attorney general declared part of his legal fees were paid by unknown donors.
Porter, the industry and science minister, updated his register of interests on Monday, to include the Legal Services Trust, which made an unknown contribution to his legal fees for a discontinued defamation case against the ABC and journalist Louise Milligan.
Porter declared he had “no access to information about the conduct and funding of the trust”. (Click here to read more)
The exact statement on Porter’s declaration on page 17 is below:
(Click here to read the full parliamentary declaration updated on the 14th of September)
It’s not believable that Porter wouldn’t know where or who the money has come from.
Christian Porter has close ties to Fortescue Metals Group owner Andrew “Twiggy” Forest and former Fortescue CEO Neville (Nev) Power.
Ben Wyatt, Andrew Forest and Christian Porter – Feb 2017
A quick search of Porter’s background and you can easily see he has close connections to the mining industry.
“Twiggy Forrest and Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh are both among the referees” when Christian Porter first went for Liberal preselection. (Click here to read more) Do a search for Christian Porter and Andrew Forest and you will find many articles where Porter is blowing the trumpet for Fortescue Mining and without a doubt the mining industry would see Porter as one of thier people in federal parliament to do the mining industries bidding for their billionaire owners.
Free plane rides to Canberra with Neville (Nev) Power who is the former Fortescue CEO
Nev Power succeeded company founder Andrew Forrest as CEO of Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) in July 2011, after a period as chief operating officer. Power retired from Fortescue in 2018. He has since taken up an appointment as chair of Perth Airport Pty Ltd. In September 2019 he joined the board of Strike Energy, an oil and gas exploration firm, of which he is a major shareholder. In March 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison nominated Power to chair the National COVID-19 Commission Advisory Board, created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Click here to read more)
On page 12 of Porter’s declaration, it discloses flights in Nev Powers’s personal plane which is also piloted by Nev Power:
Nev Power is in very tight with the Liberal Party as reported:
The National COVID-19 Coordination Commission has refused to disclose the potential conflicts of interest of the commissioners, despite questions over links to the gas industry.
The commission was quizzed extensively at a Senate inquiry on Thursday over chairman Nev Power’s many directorships, including his interest in West Australian oil and gas company Strike Energy, the use of his private jet to transport government ministers, and the wider interests that members of the commission and its manufacturing taskforce have in the gas industry.
There are reports that Scott Morrison has now decided to look into the “Blind Trust” but we all know Scott Morrison’s investigations end up going nowhere. Christian Porter is again in a lot of trouble and a huge embarrassment for the government but he’s been in that position before and survived so we’ll see how it plays out over the next few days.
Hopefully others will pick up on Christian Porter’s fraudulent abuse of expenses as per above and he will be forced to admit his fraud and repay the money. It might even be the final nail in Porter’s career which cannot possibly survive the next election.
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