Malcolm Turnbull has dumped Stuart Robert from the ministry after a scandal over a “private” trip to Beijing to oversee a mining deal involving a major Liberal donor and meet a Chinese vice-minister.
The prime minister confirmed Robert would leave the frontbench after a report by a senior public servant found the minister for human services had “acted inconsistently” with the statement of ministerial standards.
During the course of bureaucrat Martin Parkinson’s investigation, Robert disclosed a shareholding in Metallum Holdings, which had an interest in Nimrod Resources.
“Mr Robert recognised that this connection would create the impression that at the time he went to Beijing he had something personally to gain from the Nimrod Resources project,” Turnbull said in a statement on Friday.
“As a result, Mr Robert has asked me not to consider him in the pending reshuffle of the ministry. I thank him for his service as a minister and for his candid cooperation with Dr Parkinson in his inquiry.”
The decision comes as the prime minister considers broader ministerial changes triggered by the Nationals selecting Barnaby Joyce as their new leader after Warren Truss retired. Labor, which had been demanding Robert’s sacking, accused the prime minister of acting too slowly amid government divisions about the issue.
Robert was appointed as the minister for human services and veterans’ affairs five months ago, but he was the assistant defence minister at the time he took the August 2014 trip to China which he said was done in a private capacity.
Turnbull sought advice from Parkinson, the head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, after revelations Robert attended an event in Beijing to celebrate a deal involving Nimrod Resources, an Australian mining company headed by Liberal party donor Paul Marks.
A media release issued by China MinMetals Corporation said Robert had extended his congratulations “on behalf of the Australian Department of Defence” and had presented “a medal bestowed to him by Australian prime minister in honour of remembrance and blessing”.
This was followed by a meeting with the Chinese vice-minister of land and resources in the reported presence of Nimrod Resources the next day.
Robert told Parkinson that at the time he travelled to Beijing he did not believe that he had any interest in or connection to Marks’s company, according to the statement issued by the prime minister’s office.
“In the course of assisting the investigation, Mr Robert advised Dr Parkinson that on checking his records he had become aware that shares in Metallum Holdings Pty Ltd, a company in which Mr Marks was also a shareholder, had been allocated to his trustee some time before the visit to Beijing,” Turnbull said.
“He told Dr Parkinson that this had been done without his knowledge. He further advised Dr Parkinson that he believed Metallum Holdings Pty Ltd had an interest in Nimrod Resources.”
Labor had spent four parliamentary days pursuing the issue, arguing Robert had breached clause 2.20 of the statement of standards which bans ministers from acting “as a consultant or adviser to any company, business, or other interests, whether paid or unpaid, or provide assistance to any such body, except as may be appropriate in their official capacity as minister”.
On Friday the prime minister revealed that Parkinson’s report, which was presented to the cabinet’s governance committee, had “concluded that Mr Robert had acted inconsistently with the statement of ministerial standards, although he accepts that Mr Robert may not have intended to do so”.
“He also notes that Mr Robert appears not to have received any financial benefit and that the conduct in question did not directly relate to Mr Robert’s ministerial duties.”
The government was not united on the need for action, despite growing pressure on Robert during the course of the week.
Scott Morrison had sought to strongly defend Robert, his friend and Canberra flatmate. On Monday the treasurer said the controversy was “a ridiculous beat-up”. He said claims that Robert had lent his prestige as a government minister to his business mate was “an offensive suggestion” and “a massive overreach”.
Joyce, who is soon to be sworn in as deputy prime minister, said on Friday morning he could not see evidence of wrongdoing.
“What is his crime? Can someone please tell me what the crime is here? Because what we have is allegations he met people – if meeting people in China is a crime, then every politician in this building is gone,” Joyce told the Nine Network before the decision was announced.
But later on Friday, Joyce told 2GB: “Malcolm has dealt with this. You have to give people a chance to get all the details out. You can’t just on the first sign of smoke go out and shoot somebody. You’ve got to find all the details. Once the details become apparent you’ve got to say, ‘sorry, good night Irene’.”
The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, said the case had exposed divisions “at the heart of this Turnbull Liberal government” and the prime minister was “taking out the trash” in a written statement on a Friday afternoon to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.
“Malcolm Turnbull is too arrogant to answer questions in the parliament … too arrogant to face the media, too arrogant to be accountable to the Australian people,” Shorten said.
“I do not believe that Mr Turnbull’s Liberals understand what Stuart Robert has done wrong, even now.
“I didn’t think that Liberal ministers needed it explained to them that their job is to work for the people of Australia, not to squire rich fat cat Liberal donors around the capitals of the world. I’m amazed that Malcolm Turnbull has let this matter go on for five days.”
Labor’s shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, labelled Turnbull as “the prime ditherer” for waiting until parliament rose to dump the minister. Bowen also seized on Morrison’s defence of him as evidence of government dysfunction.
“There has rarely been a clearer case of a breach of ministerial standards than Stuart Robert’s trip to China on behalf of a major Liberal party donor, in clear breach of the standards,” Bowen said.
“He said he was on private business. The ministerial code of conduct says you cannot help a company as a minister in your private capacity. It is crystal clear … Stuart Robert’s own defence convicted him.”
An official from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade agreed in a Senate estimates hearing on Thursday that the people he had met thought they were dealing with Robert in his ministerial capacity.
Robert denied wrongdoing but refused to answer specific parliamentary questions over the course of the week. The statement of standards say ministers “may be required to resign if the prime minister is satisfied that they have breached or failed to comply with these standards in a substantive and material manner”.
It was also revealed on Friday that employees in Robert’s Department of Human Services – the biggest commonwealth agency – had comprehensively rejected the government’s latest pay offer.
The Community and Public Sector Union said more than 26,000 employees participated in the ballot and about 80% voted against the proposed enterprise agreement. The department includes Medicare, Centrelink and child support staff.