Sacking an Attorney General when you have a small majority is a risky business

When you have a majority in the parliament of two and the opinion polls show you are in electoral trouble a Prime Minister is not in the mood to cause a by-election. Even less so when the vote would be in a state where your party has just been reduced to two members. 

And that is the nub of a great difficulty for Scott Morrison when all and sundry are telling him that he should sack Christian Porter as his Attorney General.

What if Mr Porter responds to being told he is being dismissed by submitting his resignation not just from the Cabinet but from the House of Representatives as well?

And lest you think that's an unlikely prospect let me take you back to April when Jim Killen was Minister for Defence and I was carrying cases of beer to the cars of customers at my bottle shop. In those days Jim had a staff of two - a shorthand/typist/secretary and a private secretary on secondment from his department. There were none of those myriad of advisers that these days clutter up ministerial offices to proffer an opinion about what their boss should or should not do.

So when Jim, who had picked up the scuttlebutt that the Prime Minister was unhappy with his peformance, was instructed to prepare for a meeting in the Prime Ministerial office later in the day he called and asked me to join him for a quick drink and a spot of advice. Now Jim and I having a quick drink or two was not unusual. We were mates in those days when Labor lads and Liberal ministers were still allowed to be friends (I got married in his house with Graham Freudenberg as the best man before hopping off to watch the Brisbane Cup.) 

Jim was mightily distressed. He loved being Defence Minister and dreaded the prospect of ending his career by returning to the backbench. What was my advice?

Politely, ever so politely, call the big fellow's bluff. Tell him you appreciated his right to choose his own ministry, express your sorrow, wish him all the best and tell him you would immediately retire as the member for Moreton. See if he was courageous enough to risk a by-election he would surely lose.

The ruse worked. Fraser insisted on replacing him as Defence Minister but created a new Cabinet portfolio of Vice-President of the Executive Council and Leader of the House. A knighthood followed.

I do not know Mr Porter but imagine he would be far from happy to be forced out of hs post as the first law officer. Can Scomo find him aother job he would accept?