“The advice is a very clear critique and critique of the implications that exist for our democratic system,” Albanese said, describing the events as “extremely unusual and unprecedented.” Albanese, who defeated Morrison in a federal election in May, has been critical of his predecessor, who was appointed to five senior government portfolios — including health. financing; treasury and home affairs; and industry, science and resources — between 2020 and 2021, largely unbeknownst to the ministers who held each role. The solicitor-general found that Morrison’s secret appointment to the portfolios was “valid” but “inconsistent with the conventions and practices” of responsible government. The revelations of the secret portfolios emerged last week in extracts from a book published about Morrison’s time in office, based on interviews the former leader gave to the authors. Morrison defended his actions in a lengthy Facebook post last week and on Tuesday reiterated his claim that he thought it was “prudent” to give himself powers should the relevant minister become incapacitated during the pandemic. “I accept that many Australians will not agree with, accept or understand all the decisions I have made in these difficult times,” he said in a statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday. “I can only state that I made the decisions I made as prime minister with the best of intentions, in good faith.” Some of his former colleagues were reportedly furious that they had not been informed of what Australian media are describing as a “power grab”. Former Home Secretary Karen Andrews, who said she was unaware Morrison had been appointed to her job, urged him to quit politics. “He needs to resign and he needs to leave parliament,” Andrews told Sky News last week. Morrison has so far resisted calls to resign.
The research
Few details are known about the investigation and its scope, but Albanese said it would be led by a “prominent person with a legal background.” It would not be a political inquiry, he said, but “there is clearly a whole range of questions that have been raised”. Some of the questions the government wants answered include “why did this happen, how did it happen? Who knew it happened? What are the implications for our parliamentary system? Are there legal implications behind the decisions made? How can we avoid it happening this again?” said the prime minister. Morrison is known to have used the power at least once, to reject an application for a license to explore for natural gas off the coast of New South Wales. The company involved, BPH Energy, is seeking a judicial review of the government’s decision to reject the application. Albanese said Morrison’s decision to take on new roles may have had other, as yet unknown, consequences. The former prime minister “was health minister and industry minister at a time when we were looking at the possibility of producing an mRNA vaccine in Australia,” Albanese said. And he said Morrison may have influenced funding decisions within the departments he held. “I know it’s certainly not common practice that the prime minister was appointed as the final decision-maker for over $800 million in grants for a production fund. Now that’s also in my view, which is a matter of accountability,” Albanese said.
Morrison reveals the controversy
The controversy took on a life of its own on social media, where users photoshopped Morrison’s face into images of people playing different roles. The general theme was that Morrison was everywhere, especially where you least expected him. Morrison appeared to lean into the trend by commenting on the images and then creating a few of his own, including one showing his face over an image of a comedy troupe. “It was fun participating in all the memes,” Morrison said in the accompanying post. “But there are so many now that I can’t keep up. As Australians we can always laugh at ourselves.” However, Albanese made it clear he was not amused by Morrison’s attempt to brush aside the criticism. “This undermining of the parliamentary system of government, the whole system of Westminster and our democratic traditions of accountability, is no laughing matter,” he said last week. And on Tuesday, Albanese said Morrison should apologize to the entire country. “Scott Morrison owes the Australian people an apology for undermining the parliamentary democracy system of government we have, which cannot be taken for granted.”
