Australian PM Says Morrison Held Five Ministry Portfolios in ‘Unprecedented Trashing of Democracy’
08:38 GMT 16.08.2022 (Updated: 10:59 GMT 16.08.2022)
© AP Photo / Lukas Coch
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Australia’s Governor-General David Hurley on Monday confirmed he had appointed Scott Morrison to juggle a succession of other portfolios during his time in office after reports that the then-Prime Minister secretly had himself sworn into several other ministry positions while in government.
Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has labelled his predecessor Scott Morrison’s actions an “unprecedented trashing of our democracy” after revelations surfaced that the former PM had secretly appointed himself to five ministries while in office.
“It is completely extraordinary that these appointments were kept secret by the Morrison government. It’s undermined our democracy. It’s an attack on the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy as we know it,” Albanese said at a press conference in Canberra after briefings from his department.
“This has been government by deception. Government in secret,” he added.
According to Albanese, as well as his appointment to head the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Morrison was appointed to administer the Department of Health on 14 March 2020, and the Department of Finance on 30 March 2020.
Furthermore, on 15 April 2021, Albanese said Morrison was appointed to administer the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. The following month, on 6 May 2021, Morrison was appointed to run the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Treasury.
“I have been informed by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that between March 2020 and May 2021, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison was appointed to five additional portfolios,” Albanese said.
He accused the previous government of deliberately undermining the “checks and balances” system of Australian democracy.
“Operating in secret, keeping the operations of the government from the Australian people themselves. And misleading parliament as to who was holding what portfolios and who was responsible,” Albanese stated.
After the revelations became public, former Home Affairs minister, Karen Andrews, urged Morrison to resign from parliament.
“I think the actions that he undertook in swearing himself into numerous portfolios and not disclosing those to the ministers responsible means that he needs to resign and he needs to leave Parliament,” Andrews told Sky News.
But the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, stood by his former leader. Dutton said the early days of the pandemic had required the government to make judgments about what was needed in a “difficult situation”.
“It was a war-like situation and there was concern about what would happen,” Dutton said.
The developments followed reports In The Australian that Morrison had made a secret arrangement with his then Attorney-General and Western Australia MP Christian Porter to be sworn in to health and finance Cabinet roles in March 2020 without the knowledge of some senior Cabinet colleagues.
Citing federal court filings, the paper claimed that last April, the governor-general, David Hurley, also appointed Morrison to oversee the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
After the revelations emerged, Albanese vowed to seek legal advice about the lawfulness of the ministerial arrangements, including from the solicitor-general, , accusing his predecessor of running a “shadow government”.
Morrison himself claimed in a social media statement that he could not recall being sworn in to any other ministry beyond health, finance and resources. The former PM justified the arrangements by citing the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic “as a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ safeguard”.
“The crisis was a highly dynamic environment and it was important to plan ahead and take what precautions could lawfully be put in place to ensure I could act as Prime Minister, if needed,” Morrison said.
