Easton affair
Encyclopedia
The Easton affair was the name which came to be used to describe a Western Australia
n political scandal. A member of the Labor Party
, then in government, tabled a document on 5 November 1992 in the Western Australian Legislative Council
claiming that confidential information was improperly released by the Liberal
Opposition Leader
, Richard Court
, to one side of a divorce case before the Family Court of Western Australia, a woman named Penny Easton, about the financial arrangements of her former husband. The claim, which attracted significant public interest, was followed four days later by Easton's suicide. The government and in particular the Premier
, Carmen Lawrence
, denied any prior knowledge of the petition. Following the defeat of Labor at the 1993 election
, Court, who had succeeded Lawrence as Premier, requested a Royal Commission
to be held. In November 1995, the Commission found that Lawrence had misled the Western Australian parliament. She was charged with three counts of perjury, but was acquitted following a trial by jury on 23 May 1999.
by John Halden
MLC containing an allegation that the state Opposition Leader
, Richard Court
, had improperly provided confidential information to a party in a divorce case. The petitioner was Brian Mahon Easton, a former Western Australian public servant. The alleged recipient of the information was his former wife, Penny Easton.
Ms Easton had been corresponding with Liberal
Members of Parliament in an attempt to obtain assistance in proving that her husband had concealed from the Family Court some of his earnings as a public servant. The amount in question was A$200,000 which he was alleged to have received as a retirement benefit from Exim Corporation, a body created by the State Government during the WA Inc
era and of which Easton had been General Manager. The petition alleged that details of Easton's severance arrangements had been unlawfully disclosed. Significant parts of the petition were subsequently discovered to be false, particularly concerning the role of Richard Court in the matter.
The tabling of the petition attracted intense media interest. Penny Easton, who had refused to respond to enquiries by journalists, committed suicide on 9 November 1992. Her vehicle was discovered in bushland with her body inside; she had died by deliberate inhalation of exhaust fumes. In Parliament on the following day, in response to an Opposition question, Premier Carmen Lawrence
denied prior knowledge of the petition.
, a journalist then employed by the Sydney Morning Herald, that the Easton matter was raised at a Cabinet meeting prior to the tabling of the petition.
On 18 April 1995, another Minister in the Cabinet, Pam Beggs, made a statement supportive of Wilson.
In May 1995, Richard Court, who had succeeded Lawrence as Premier following the election of 1993, requested the creation of a Royal Commission
to determine the circumstances of the tabling of the Easton petition. The Commissioner was Sir Kenneth Marks QC. The establishment of the Commission attracted severe attacks from Lawrence's colleagues in the federal parliamentary Labor party. The federal Member for Perth, Stephen Smith
, was particularly hostile and made public comments, before the identity of the commissioner was announced, warning that anyone undertaking the Commission would regret it.
On 14 November 1995, the Marks Royal Commission released a report which found that Lawrence had misled the Western Australian Parliament concerning her knowledge of and role in the tabling of the petition. Prime Minister Paul Keating
denounced the Commission as a political stunt and accused the Commissioner of bias.
Brian Easton was charged with contempt of the Parliament by motion of the Legislative Council in 1995 and, upon conviction, was ordered to present himself in the chamber to apologise. He refused and was sentenced by the Council to 7 days imprisonment.
John Halden was charged with perjury before the Royal Commission and acquitted after a trial in December 1998.
Following the defeat of the Keating government in the election held on 2 March 1996, Carmen Lawrence had been appointed to the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Environment Minister. On 21 February 1997, she was charged with three counts of perjury resulting from the findings of the Marks Royal Commission. A trial by jury followed during which she stood down from the shadow ministry. She was acquitted of the charges on 23 July 1999. When Lawrence announced her retirement from politics in March 2007, she described the affair as the lowest point in her political career.
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n political scandal. A member of the Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
, then in government, tabled a document on 5 November 1992 in the Western Australian Legislative Council
Western Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
claiming that confidential information was improperly released by the Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Opposition Leader
Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)
The Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the Legislative Assembly...
, Richard Court
Richard Court
Richard Fairfax Court AC , was a Western Australian politician, representing the seat of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1982 to 2001. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001.Court was born into an old political...
, to one side of a divorce case before the Family Court of Western Australia, a woman named Penny Easton, about the financial arrangements of her former husband. The claim, which attracted significant public interest, was followed four days later by Easton's suicide. The government and in particular the Premier
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia....
, denied any prior knowledge of the petition. Following the defeat of Labor at the 1993 election
Western Australian state election, 1993
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 6 February 1993 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...
, Court, who had succeeded Lawrence as Premier, requested a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
to be held. In November 1995, the Commission found that Lawrence had misled the Western Australian parliament. She was charged with three counts of perjury, but was acquitted following a trial by jury on 23 May 1999.
Overview
On 5 November 1992, a petition was tabled in the Western Australian Legislative CouncilWestern Australian Legislative Council
The Legislative Council, or upper house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. Its central purpose is to act as a house of review for legislation passed through the lower house, the Legislative Assembly. It sits in Parliament House in the state...
by John Halden
John Halden
Stanley John Halden , at Fremantle, Western Australia, is a former member of the Western Australian Legislative Council.Halden was educated in Western Australia and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Social Work...
MLC containing an allegation that the state Opposition Leader
Leader of the Opposition (Western Australia)
The Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties in the Legislative Assembly of the Parliament of Western Australia. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the Legislative Assembly...
, Richard Court
Richard Court
Richard Fairfax Court AC , was a Western Australian politician, representing the seat of Nedlands in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for the Liberal Party of Australia from 1982 to 2001. He served as Premier of Western Australia from 1993 to 2001.Court was born into an old political...
, had improperly provided confidential information to a party in a divorce case. The petitioner was Brian Mahon Easton, a former Western Australian public servant. The alleged recipient of the information was his former wife, Penny Easton.
Ms Easton had been corresponding with Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Members of Parliament in an attempt to obtain assistance in proving that her husband had concealed from the Family Court some of his earnings as a public servant. The amount in question was A$200,000 which he was alleged to have received as a retirement benefit from Exim Corporation, a body created by the State Government during the WA Inc
WA Inc
WA Inc was a political scandal in Western Australia. In the 1980s, the state government, which was led for much of the period by premier Brian Burke, engaged in business dealings with several prominent businessmen, including Alan Bond, Laurie Connell and Warren Anderson...
era and of which Easton had been General Manager. The petition alleged that details of Easton's severance arrangements had been unlawfully disclosed. Significant parts of the petition were subsequently discovered to be false, particularly concerning the role of Richard Court in the matter.
The tabling of the petition attracted intense media interest. Penny Easton, who had refused to respond to enquiries by journalists, committed suicide on 9 November 1992. Her vehicle was discovered in bushland with her body inside; she had died by deliberate inhalation of exhaust fumes. In Parliament on the following day, in response to an Opposition question, Premier Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Lawrence
Carmen Mary Lawrence is a retired Australian politician; a former Premier of Western Australia and the first woman to become Premier of a State of the Commonwealth of Australia....
denied prior knowledge of the petition.
The Easton Royal Commission
In April 1995, Keith Wilson, a Minister and Cabinet member in November 1992, told Paul McGeoughPaul McGeough
Paul McGeough is an Irish Australian journalist and senior foreign correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald, specialising in Middle Eastern affairs....
, a journalist then employed by the Sydney Morning Herald, that the Easton matter was raised at a Cabinet meeting prior to the tabling of the petition.
On 18 April 1995, another Minister in the Cabinet, Pam Beggs, made a statement supportive of Wilson.
In May 1995, Richard Court, who had succeeded Lawrence as Premier following the election of 1993, requested the creation of a Royal Commission
Royal Commission
In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
to determine the circumstances of the tabling of the Easton petition. The Commissioner was Sir Kenneth Marks QC. The establishment of the Commission attracted severe attacks from Lawrence's colleagues in the federal parliamentary Labor party. The federal Member for Perth, Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith (Australian politician)
Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
, was particularly hostile and made public comments, before the identity of the commissioner was announced, warning that anyone undertaking the Commission would regret it.
On 14 November 1995, the Marks Royal Commission released a report which found that Lawrence had misled the Western Australian Parliament concerning her knowledge of and role in the tabling of the petition. Prime Minister Paul Keating
Paul Keating
Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...
denounced the Commission as a political stunt and accused the Commissioner of bias.
The trials
Brian Easton was charged with contempt of the Parliament by motion of the Legislative Council in 1995 and, upon conviction, was ordered to present himself in the chamber to apologise. He refused and was sentenced by the Council to 7 days imprisonment.
John Halden was charged with perjury before the Royal Commission and acquitted after a trial in December 1998.
Following the defeat of the Keating government in the election held on 2 March 1996, Carmen Lawrence had been appointed to the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Environment Minister. On 21 February 1997, she was charged with three counts of perjury resulting from the findings of the Marks Royal Commission. A trial by jury followed during which she stood down from the shadow ministry. She was acquitted of the charges on 23 July 1999. When Lawrence announced her retirement from politics in March 2007, she described the affair as the lowest point in her political career.
Further reading
- Western Australia. Royal Commission into Use of Executive Power.(1995) Report of the Royal Commission into use of Executive Power. Perth, W.A : The Royal Commission. (Commissioner: K.H. Marks) - Colloquially known as, "The Marks Report". See http://www.slp.wa.gov.au/publications/publications.nsf/inquiries+and+commissions?openpage for online availability. Also available from the Law Library at the University of Western AustraliaUniversity of Western AustraliaThe University of Western Australia was established by an Act of the Western Australian Parliament in February 1911, and began teaching students for the first time in 1913. It is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia and the only university in the state to be a member of the...
- Call No. Q 354.94100992 1995 REP.
- Western Australia. Parliament. Legislative Council. Select Committee of Privilege. (1994) Report of the Select Committee of Privilege concerning the non-compliance by Brian Easton with the Order of the House of 22 June 1994 / presented by the Hon. Peter Foss (Chairman) Published: West Perth, W.A. - Available from the Law Library at the University of Western Australia - Call No. Q 328.941074 1994 REP.