Tony Abbott’s chief of staff, Peta Credlin, was informed of Stuart Robert’s plans to travel directly from a controversial stint in China to an official commitment in Singapore, a committee has been told.
The Department of Defence also revealed it was supplied with a list of the people the then assistant defence minister met in Beijing after he returned to Australia – but said it did not know whether he took his official phone with him.
Robert is fighting to save his ministerial career but refusing to answer parliamentary questions after revelations of a “private” trip to China which included attending an event on 18 August 2014 to celebrate a deal involving Nimrod Resources, an Australian mining company headed by major Liberal party donor Paul Marks.
He is also reported to have met with a Chinese vice-minister in the presence of Nimrod Resources the following day.
In a development that complicates Malcolm Turnbull’s requested investigation into alleged breaches of ministerial standards, the Department of Defence said Robert’s chief of staff had written to Credlin on 13 August 2014.
“It was a letter, one seeking approval for the minister to travel from Beijing to Singapore, to attend the Singapore-Australia joint ministerial committee meeting, which was held in Singapore on 21/22 August [2014],” the department’s secretary, Dennis Richardson, told a Senate estimates committee on Wednesday.
The letter has not been released. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) has previously said Robert was on personal leave, approved by the prime minister, “from 15 to 22 August 2014 inclusive”.
Finance Department entitlement records showed he claimed $10,449.83 “to attend the Singapore-Australia joint ministerial meeting and the defence ministers’ dialogue” with the dates listed as 21 August to 23 August 2014.
Richardson said he understood the defence attaché in the Australian embassy had not been aware of Robert’s visit to Beijing and had not provided assistance, but the department was told afterwards that he had met a Chinese vice minister.
“Following his return to Australia, Minister Robert asked his office to advise the department who he had met in China,” he said.
Richardson said he, as defence secretary, would not take his departmental phone with him to China, but he did not know whether Robert had done so.
Labor’s defence spokesman, Stephen Conroy, called on the government to investigate the phone issue because of the risk the device could have been hacked or otherwise compromised. The defence minister, Marise Payne, promised to pass on the suggestion to PM&C.
Robert, who is now the minister for human services and veterans’ affairs, has denied wrongdoing and promised to cooperate with an inquiry overseen by the PM&C secretary, Martin Parkinson.
The minister said he had attended the mining cooperation signing ceremony “in a private capacity”, but a media release issued by China Minmetals Corporation said he 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”.
Labor stepped up its calls for Robert’s sacking, arguing he 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”.
In parliament on Wednesday, the shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, asked Robert whether he had provided Parkinson with details of the ministerial meeting, a copy of the “letter of appointment” he reportedly presented at the mining event, and proof that he had met all of his China travel costs.
“I thank the member for his question and I refer the member to my previous answer yesterday,” Robert replied.
“I refer the member to my response yesterday ... I refer the member to my previous response yesterday.”
Robert also declined to answer specific questions on Tuesday but said he was confident he had “not acted inappropriately” and would “fully assist” Parkinson.
The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, said Turnbull should sack Robert for the “clear breach” of ministerial standards but was waiting for parliament to rise “before he takes out his trash”.
The Coalition used its numbers to defeat Labor attempts to suspend question time to move a motion censuring the prime minister.
Turnbull said his departmental secretary would report back to him after he ascertained the facts.
“It will be completed and when it is completed then I will take the decision that only I can take in respect of the minister’s position,” he said.
“Now that should be allowed to proceed in accordance with the code. It is due process and they do themselves no service and they do the house no service by constantly trying to subvert what they know is appropriate process for dealing with issues of this kind.”
