Christian Porter (Image: Lukas Coch)

Last night the House of Representatives voted down a bid for the Privileges Committee to examine Liberal backbencher Christian Porter’s use of a blind trust to pay some of his legal fees in a defamation case against the ABC.

It was a vote of popularity, with the outcome widely unprecedented, showing just how many are willing to stand up and protect one of their own. Without public scrutiny, 2021 may become nothing but a blip in the career of Porter — a man who believed he was destined to become prime minister.

Twenty eight Liberals, 15 Liberal Nationals and nine Nationals voted that the reference to the Privileges and Members’ Interests Committee be disagreed to. Unsurprisingly, 42 of the 52 ayes came from men. 

This is rare: the referral was given precedence by Speaker of the House Tony Smith and, according to manager of opposition business Tony Burke, it’s the first time since federation the government had voted against such a referral. 

It may be rare but it’s not surprising. Since the historic allegation of rape against Porter emerged, a team of supporters, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, have rushed to defend Porter and maintain his reputation. Porter, who has also been accused of sexism and a history of inappropriate behaviour, has strenuously denied all allegations against him. Morrison deemed Porter fit to hold the position of Australia’s chief law officer, calling him an “innocent man” and a “fine attorney-general”.

When Porter announced in May this year he would be using a blind trust, no one stopped him. When uproar around the blind trust started in September, Porter announced his resignation from the Morrison ministry, moving to the backbench. 

This has been described as a fall from grace but is likely to be a brief step away from the limelight as the news cycle moves on. In the corporate world, this is all too common. Rarely are accused-men’s careers curtailed by allegations of sexual harassment or discrimination.

Take former David Jones CEO Mark McInnes, who in 2010 was accused of harassing then 27-year-old publicist Kristy Fraser-Kirk. Fraser-Kirk moved abroad after being hounded by journalists and receiving a $850,000 payout. McInnes ran off to Europe with a $2 million exit payment and reemerged less than seven months later as an executive director of Premier Investments. 

There’s also IFM executive director Frederic Michel-Verdier, who allegedly texted a 27-year-old colleague he could teach her “a lot about sex”. He only stepped down after a settlement to “pursue personal business interests” and continued to serve on boards, later founding a company. 

Former McGrath head of sales Adrian Bo had his accuser “marched out” of the office, was given a salary increase and paid for a settlement by selling his private boat named “Inappropriate”. He was only dismissed after media attention and continued to provide business coaching for the company. 

Liberal men have been let off the hook for a series of scandals, sexual or otherwise. Liberal MP Andrew Laming shirked responsibility for harassing women online and was protected by his party; Angus Taylor remained in Parliament after the “watergate” scandal and a series of other incidents; Alan Tudge was largely unaffected following allegations of poor treatment of a female staffer with whom he was having an affair; Stuart Robert was reemployed after Robodebt; Paul Fletcher faced nothing for land overpayment; Porter was given a slap on the wrist after stacking the  Administrative Appeals Tribunal … the list goes on. Meanwhile, former Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie was the first to lose her job over rorting.

Yet when the decision to investigate a politician is taken out of their supporters’ hands, the outcome is very different. Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian stepped down when the Independent Commission Against Corruption announced it would be investigating whether she breached public trust. Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is being caught up in the investigation by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in ALP branch stacking. 

Neither investigation required a vote of popularity to see if their friends thought they should be investigated. Evidence was collected, a threshold was met, and an investigation was announced. 

Porter has managed so far to stay in the shadows, with details of his sponsors and allegations staying private. The ABC can’t release its truth defence in the defamation case following the allegations of historic rape as part of its settlement deal. The police can’t launch an investigation into the historic rape allegation as the woman who made the claims has passed away. An independent inquiry into Porter’s fitness to be minister was shut down.

Voting against the blind trust inquiry is yet another example of the boys protecting the boys, so that Porter may eventually go on to fulfil his “birthright”. Blocking the privilege committee has a disgusting tinge of irony.