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Labor 'wasting police time' on bribery bid

Attorney-General Christian Porter says the Labor opposition is wasting police time going after him over an appointment he made to a lucrative tribunal job.

Attorney General Christian Porter
Attorney General Christian Porter rejects a Labor attack that an appointment he made was 'bribery'. (AAP)

Labor has asked the federal police to investigate whether Attorney-General Christian Porter committed bribery by appointing someone to a lucrative job to stop them contesting the election.

But Mr Porter says the opposition is wasting the AFP's time and the appointment in question was made before cabinet minister Kelly O'Dwyer announced she was stepping down from her seat.

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has asked police to look into the appointment of Jane Bell to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal at a time when she was potentially seeking preselection for the federal seat of Higgins.

"Membership of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal renders a person incapable of sitting as a member of parliament, due to the constitutional prohibition on members of parliament also holding an office of profit under the crown," Mr Dreyfus said on Thursday.

"As attorney-general and first law officer of this country, this is a fact Mr Porter would have been well aware of."

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But Mr Porter says Mr Dreyfus is "simply wasting the AFP's time".

"Ms Bell's appointment was finalised before her nomination for preselection for Higgins," he said in a statement.

"Had she won that preselection, she would no doubt had to have resigned her position on the AAT.

"It is impossible to link her appointment to the AAT to preselection because at the time of her appointment, her future nomination was entirely unknown."


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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