Christian Porter’s resignation from the Ministry in the face of a Greens’ no confidence motion doesn’t end the mystery donation affair, with the Greens vowing to pursue the Prime Minister over his failure to act and to renew a push in Parliament to have the Greens’ federal ICAC bill – which has already passed the Senate – brought on for debate in the House of Representatives.
“Faced with a Greens no confidence motion and widespread community condemnation, Christian Porter has started to accept the reality that Ministers can’t take cash donations and refuse to say who they’re from,” said Greens Leader Adam Bandt.
“It should have been absolutely obvious from day one that Christian Porter’s actions were wrong, yet Scott Morrison refused to sack him.
“Transparency and integrity count for nothing for Scott Morrison, and both Christian Porter and the Prime Minister are still acting as if nothing wrong happened.
“The fish rots from the head down. It is clear Scott Morrison will not enforce standards of integrity the community expects, and we need a federal ICAC to hold politicians to account.”
“We need a federal corruption watchdog now more than ever. The Greens have got a bill to establish a federal ICAC through the Senate and it’s awaiting a vote in the house. When Parliament resumes, we will renew our push to make the corruption watchdog law. After this latest in a string of scandals, it will be a brave Liberal backbencher that stands in the way of establishing a federal corruption watchdog.”
