“But it would not be a good look if, as with Mr Abbott (trade/Brexit), he had a role with an overseas entity where Australia’s sensitive international interests are involved.” “It would meet letter of the Code, which does not make former ministers monks,” Orr said. The ministerial code of conduct also requires that former ministers undertake that they will “not take personal advantage of information to which they have had access as a minister, where that information is not generally available to the public”.īut the code has no real method of enforcement for departed ministers, and at least one expert, University of Queensland law professor Graeme Orr, said it would be unlikely to apply to Morrison anyway. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Morrison only has six months left of his cooling-off period, although it is unclear whether the reported UK role would involve lobbying as defined in both codes. The ministerial code of conduct and the lobbying code of conduct require that former ministers serve an 18-month cooling-off period before lobbying on issues related to their former portfolio. The report has raised renewed concerns about individuals using knowledge gained while in office for private gain. The Nine newspapers on Tuesday reported Morrison had been “sounded out” by a UK defence firm and that that his associates were in “talks with corporations interested in the former prime minister’s Aukus insights”.

Jla morrison