Senate debates

Thursday, 8 September 2022

Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers

Ministerial Conduct

3:15 pm

Photo of Paul ScarrPaul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answer by Senator Wong to the question which I asked today relating to the Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus.

Might I say that I'm absolutely gobsmacked by what is transpiring as we sit here today in the lower house with respect to the investments and the disclosures made by the Attorney-General, Mr Dreyfus MP. What is happening in terms of this issue in the lower house is absolutely extraordinary. There was, in history, a famous affair called the Dreyfus Affair, in relation to a Captain Dreyfus, who was wrongly accused of doing the wrong thing in the turn of the 20th century, but it will be very interesting to see how this unravels.

What we're finding out is that the Attorney-General appears, through his self-managed super fund, to have held a material interest in a managed fund called Greencape, which holds just over nine per cent of the shares or about $100 million worth of a company known as Omni Bridgeway, which provides class-action litigation funding. This is extraordinary—absolutely extraordinary! The Attorney-General!

I asked a question of Senator Wong in relation to the definition in the ministerial code of conduct, where it clearly says that the fund or trust must not invest to any significant extent in a business sector that could give rise to a conflict of interest with the minister's public duty. The Attorney-General is not permitted, under the ministerial code of conduct, to have an interest in a fund which invests in an entity which has a material potential conflict with the discharge of his duties. Here we have the Attorney-General of the country, through his self-managed super fund, with an investment in a fund called Greencape, which actually has a material interest in a class action litigation funder. This is extraordinary stuff. This could be the end of this Attorney-General. It is extraordinary.

I say this as someone who in a previous life was a company secretary and used to have responsibility of oversight of the company share trading policy. I can tell you, in terms of interpreting 'significant extent' from a general application in the corporations world, an interest of five per cent is considered material. In fact, any increase over five per cent in increments of one per cent has to be released to the Australian Stock Exchange through an announcement. It's considered a substantial shareholding.

Here we have a situation where the federal Attorney-General, through a self-managed superannuation fund, has an interest in a fund which owns nine per cent of a litigation funder. This is extraordinary. I don't see how he gets a way out of this. I don't see a way through this for the Attorney-General. On a plain reading of the ministerial code of conduct, he's in clear breach. This is not de minimis, this is not a few hundred bucks—a little one per cent here or there—this is an interest in his self-managed super fund which holds an interest in a fund that holds nine per cent of a litigation funder. The Attorney-General—you don't get away from that. Of all the ministers—I can excuse to some extent Assistant Minister Ayres—but for the Attorney-General to appear, on the face of it—and I'm looking at the article from The Age newspaper by James Massola on 8 September 2022 at 2.42 pm—this is extraordinary.

The Dreyfus affair. This will be known as the 'Dreyfus affair'. And just as Captain Dreyfus ended up on the literal Devil's Island in French Guiana, I suspect Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is going to end up in the Devil's Island of the ministerial code of conduct. You don't come back from this. This is a material interest. This is a significant interest. That's what the code says. Senator Wong said it's all about intention. Yes, it is. It is, and I expect the Attorney-General, the first law officer in this nation, to actually discharge his responsibilities and understand the significance. Nine per cent? He owns an interest in a fund that owns nine per cent of a litigation funder. Absolutely extraordinary. The Dreyfus affair 2022.

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