The Easton affair was the name which came to be used to describe a Western Australian 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. The information was released to a woman named Penny Easton and related to the financial arrangements of her former husband. The claim, which attracted significant public interest, was followed four days later by Ms 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 t