Easton Affair - Overview

Overview

On 5 November 1992, a petition was tabled in the Western Australian Legislative Council 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.