Dutton defends ‘astute’ share purchases and late property disclosures as Labor demands details

Peter Dutton has refused to reveal details about bank shares he bought at the height of the global financial crisis in the days before a bank bailout, defending his lucrative property investment history and stock market decisions as Labor tries to discredit him as out of touch with ordinary Australians.

The opposition leader said he properly made the required disclosures about his investments to the parliamentary register. He also said he does not have any “hidden assets” in a family trust account, after media reporting highlighted his involvement in buying and selling 26 pieces of property worth $30m across his adult life.

The Nine newspapers reported on Wednesday that since age 19, Dutton had bought properties worth a total $12m, which generated sales of $18.8m – and that some of these transactions, according to the report, were declared late to the parliamentary register. Dutton’s property investing and business interests, including a multimillion-dollar beach house and childcare centres, have been reported on for some time.

The Nine report came a day after Labor raised questions about Dutton’s declared investments in Commonwealth, ANZ and NAB shares in 2009, shortly before the Rudd government flagged a $4bn bailout for the big banks.

Dutton on Wednesday accused Labor of “throwing mud” at his finances, saying he had worked hard for his money, and denying he had received private information in his political life that informed his investment decisions. Asked repeatedly for more detail about why he bought and sold shares in the big banks, Dutton said he had “declared all the detail that’s required to be declared”.

“A lot of astute investors would have bought bank shares at that time because they saw value in the shares, and the balance sheets of Australian banks are very important to them, and obviously I saw value in those shares,” Dutton told a Sydney press conference.

“I’ve conducted myself with integrity at every moment of my life.”

Public pressure

The government minister Murray Watt had said on Tuesday there were “very serious questions” for Dutton to answer, including whether he had access “to sensitive information” via his roles as a shadow minister at the time.

Watt also called on Dutton to reveal how many shares he bought and sold, and for what profit – information not required for the parliamentary register.

The same day, Dutton’s office strongly rebuffed the insinuation, saying he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”.

The opposition leader shrugged off numerous questions about his financial portfolio on Wednesday, defending his financial activities.

“I’m not going back to into ancient history,” Dutton said when asked if he would support the release of minutes from a 2009 shadow cabinet meeting where the then Turnbull opposition, of which he was a member, was briefed on the bank bailout ahead of time.

“I’ve not received any information that has influenced any share transaction, either selling or buying, that I’ve made, or the purchase of any property or other asset, or other asset class or type, where I’ve been privy to any information other than what is publicly available.”

Speaking afterwards, Labor’s Katy Gallagher told media: “I think that he needs to … provide a bit more significant advice around [his stock advice] than just taking his word for it.”

What happened when?

The parliamentary register requires disclosures within 28 days of interests changing. Asked about several late disclosures of property purchases, Dutton responded: “Somewhere paperwork hasn’t gone in on time. But there’s nothing consequential in that.”

Dutton’s register of interests for this parliament initially declared his interests in companies called Dutton Holdings and PK Super, as well as his wife’s and children’s interests in RHT Family Trust (RHT Investments). It also listed a residential home at Dayboro, Queensland, and an investment property in Brisbane, as well as his wife’s directorship of a childcare company.

Since the beginning of this parliament, Dutton has declared the offloading of the Brisbane property, the sale of a Townsville commercial property owned by RHT, the voluntary deregistration of Dutton Holdings and the childcare company, and the removal of PK Super from his interests.

Asked why he had a trust account, Dutton answered: “I don’t have hidden assets.”

He said his family only owned their own home and had “money in the bank, and that’s it”.

“There are no assets held in any trust,” Dutton continued.

“That’s an issue for my wife and I’m not a beneficiary of the trust and, to be frank, there is no asset in the trust. There’s no distribution from that to my wife and children.”

Across the aisle

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, declined to comment on Dutton’s financial interests on Wednesday, saying: “That is a matter for him.”

Albanese was criticised heavily by some in the opposition for his decision to buy a $4m beach home at Copacabana on the leafy New South Wales Central Coast. Dutton on Wednesday claimed: “I haven’t criticised the prime minister in relation to his assets or in relation to his family.”

Asked about Albanese’s purchase in a recent radio interview, Dutton referred to the property as the prime minister’s “retirement home”, drawing a sketch of the prime minister at the clifftop mansion, and writing “happy retirement” on the drawing.