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Labor says Dutton has questions to answer over timing of share purchases

Peter Dutton’s purchase of bank shares on the cusp of a Rudd government bank bailout is “highly unusual” and demands an explanation about what he knew at the time, Labor minister Murray Watt has said.

Mr Dutton has denied through a spokesperson that he had any sensitive information before buying shares in Westpac, NAB and the Commonwealth Bank, transactions he declared the day before their share prices rallied on the back of the bailout. The spokesperson said the scrutiny of his share purchases had come from “the Albanese government’s dirt unit”.

But Senator Watt said the timing of the share purchases raised “serious questions” given then-opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull had been briefed in advance, and Mr Dutton was an opposition frontbencher at the time.

“What shares did he buy, exactly when did he buy them, how much profit did he make, [and] what access did he have to sensitive information that wasn’t available to the Australian public?” he asked.

“I think it is highly unusual that we see a senior member of the opposition at the time, who has no history of buying bank shares, all of a sudden take great interest on a day of record-low share value and the day before a bank bailout that a very small number of people knew about.”

Senator Watt raised the issue of the share purchase at an impromptu press conference in Parliament House on Tuesday morning, shortly after it was first reported by News Corp.

The ABC is not suggesting Mr Dutton had any knowledge of the bailout or acted inappropriately. Senator Watt said he was not accusing Mr Turnbull of “doing anything wrong whatsoever”.

A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said he had updated his register of interests “at the appropriate time”.

“If [the government] spent more time being focused on fixing Labor’s cost of living crisis rather than obsessing about Peter Dutton, Australians might be better off,” the spokesperson said.

Asked whether Labor was accusing Mr Dutton of insider trading, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese deflected the issue and said the share purchases were “a matter for [Mr Dutton] to explain”.

Bailout ‘not much of a secret’
Mr Dutton made a series of trades of major banks shares during the height of the global financial crisis, declared on his parliamentary register of interests between October 2008 and March 2009.

On January 23, 2009, he declared purchases of the Westpac, NAB and Commonwealth Bank shares. The following day, the Rudd government announced the Australian Business Investment Partnership, a $4 billion stimulus measure designed to shore up confidence in the viability of Australia’s banks.

The declaration date — at which Mr Dutton wrote to the Registrar of Members’ Interests — is not necessarily the date on which he purchased the shares.

However, Mr Dutton updated his register regularly during this period and had last declared a BHP share sale on January 19, suggesting a small window for the purchase.

A Labor source involved in the development of the policy at the time told the ABC the policy was “not much of a secret”.

“This was not a tightly held operation. It was something we had been working on with senior bank executives for some time because it was a partnership with the banks … There were a lot of people who knew about it.”

The bailout never materialised because Australia’s banks proved better positioned than many overseas, but the source said the announcement achieved its intended effect of providing confidence, as evidenced by the share price uplift.

Prior to this five-month window, Mr Dutton had not declared any traded shares for at least three years, according to past registers of interest seen by the ABC.

Senator Watt said Mr Dutton “had rarely if ever traded in bank shares … [but] entered into an absolute frenzy of buying and selling bank shares over a very small period of time … When Australians were selling bank shares, who was in there buying them but Peter Dutton?”

Liberal Deputy Sussan Ley said Mr Dutton’s office had “answered and responded” to questions raised and criticised “the Labor Party dirt unit” for “powering up” before an election.

“What a pity they’re not powering up an economic plan,” she said.

Gallagher mocks Dutton in heated estimates exchange
Labor also raised the matter in a Senate estimates hearing, where statements made by politicians are covered by parliamentary privilege, providing them broad protection from defamation proceedings.

Labor senator Jana Stewart asked officials from the Department of Finance a series of questions about the rules that apply to public servants regarding the purchase of shares for private gain using information obtained from their jobs.

After an official said the rules were “very clear” for public servants, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said: “If a public servant knew hypothetically that the banks were to be bailed out during the GFC and sought to buy up shares of all those major banks on the eve of that announcement, I imagine there would be very, very serious consequences.”

“We are now reading about how Mr Dutton behaved on the eve of that bank bailout … I think there’s genuine questions to answer,” she continued.

“It’s just a coincidence was it, that there was a lot of shares purchased the day before a bank bailout? What a coincidence, a happy coincidence no doubt for Mr Dutton.”

The comments drew furious objections from Liberal senators Jane Hume and James McGrath, who challenged Senator Gallagher to repeat her remarks outside of the hearing without the protection of parliamentary privilege.

“That’s so grubby minister. You’re better than that,” Senator Hume said, accusing Senator Gallagher of using privilege as “coward’s castle”.

“All you’ve got is mud,” Senator McGrath said, before the hearing was suspended.

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