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Morrison defends secret roles as pressure to quit builds

Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison is resisting calls to quit parliament following revelations that he secretly appointed himself to five ministerial portfolios.

Morrison appointed himself to the finance, treasury, health, home affairs and resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021. One of his decisions as resources minister, in relation to a gas project off the New South Wales coast, is before the Federal Court.

Solicitor-General Dr Stephen Donaghue QC is preparing advice for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to be delivered on Monday, on whether there are other legal issues at play relating to Morrison’s actions.

Morrison has apologised to his colleagues, but has launched a staunch defence of his actions, saying the Covid-19 pandemic required a unique response.

‘‘I believed it was necessary to have authority, to have what were effectively emergency powers, to exercise in extreme situations that would be unforeseen, that would enable me to act in the national interests,’’ he said yesterday.

‘‘Where there were authorities or powers that could be established, there was a clear expectation that I, as prime minister, would have sought to put those in place to protect the country and lead us through what was a very difficult period.’’

Morrison said the lawful move was not a power grab, as he never used the powers or overruled ministers.

One of his former ministerial colleagues, Karen Andrews, who was unaware she was being shadowed in her home affairs role by the Liberal leader, has called on him to quit parliament. ‘‘The Australian people have been let down, they have been betrayed,’’ she said.

Independent MP Sophie Scamps has called for the matter to be referred to parliament’s privileges committee. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie wants the saga referred to the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee, saying it could recommend changes to legislation. ‘‘If it’s not illegal, there’s not a lot the parliament can do,’’ Lambie told the ABC.

Constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey said legal systems were already in place, with acting ministers able to be appointed when a minister was sick or on leave.

‘‘It seems there’s this presidential view of, ‘Hey, I’m the leader, therefore I must have responsibility for everything’. That’s a real denial of the actual system of government we’ve got. The prime minister, at most, is the first amongst equals.’’

Albanese said the actions of his predecessor followed a pattern of secrecy.

‘‘Scott Morrison appointed himself to a cabinet committee of just one, so any meetings he had with other people, he could say they were co-opted and keep it away from freedom of information,’’ he told radio 4BC.

‘‘Our democracy relies on people being open and transparent about what’s going on (and) people being accountable, and that’s why this is such a shocking series of revelations.’’

World

en-nz

2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-18T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuff.pressreader.com/article/281891597063818

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