Scott Morrison secretly secured five ministerial posts for himself as Prime Minister – and still believes he is right.
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was reprimanded by Parliament on Wednesday.
Scott Morrison must have been a busy man for the last two years of his tenure. All over the world, heads of government tried to maneuver their countries through the crises of the corona pandemic. Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister from 2018 to May 2022, did the same. But he also headed five ministries – without the knowledge of the actual ministers and the public.
It was only in August, a few months after Morrison lost his re-election, that it was announced that he had taken over the interior, finance and health ministries as well as the energy and resources department and the treasury from March 2020 to May 2021.
A majority of the Australian Parliament voted no confidence in him on Wednesday. By not informing the public, Cabinet or House of Representatives about the takeover of five departments, Morrison has undermined, attacked and abused the standards of the Australian Parliament, Speaker of the House Tony Burke told Parliament. Public confidence in democracy has been severely weakened, Burke said.
Today I moved a censorship motion against Scott Morrison for fundamentally undermining the principals of responsible government. pic.twitter.com/Zyesbsltew
— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) November 30, 2022
The investigation report on the allegations against Morrison had previously come to a similar verdict; it was published last Friday. The takeover of the ministries was nevertheless legitimate in view of the national emergency, stated former Supreme Court Justice Virginia Bell. Finally, the Australian Governor General approved the takeover. Yet it remained secret.
Scott Morrison, who has been a simple parliamentarian since his electoral defeat, still considers his actions to be lawful and legitimate. The takeover of the ministries was necessary in extraordinary times, stressed Morrison. He regretted that in some cases not even the ministers themselves knew that Morrison had ousted them. He assumed that his close associates would have informed the former finance minister, Morrison said in front of the Australian Parliament.
“Had I been asked about these matters at the time at the numerous press conferences I held, I would have responded truthfully about the arrangements I had put in place.” Scott Morrison confirms redundancy & oversight he put in place for departments of health & finance. #Auspol pic.twitter.com/Lt73zSobhX
— David Marler (@Qldaah) November 30, 2022
If he had been asked about it, he would have informed the public himself, Morrison said. But questions about taking over ministries never arose at numerous media conferences. As a result, the public remained in the dark until after his departure that the prime minister could have torpedoed any decisions his ministers made – even on projects other than the pandemic. However, according to the results of the investigation, this never happened on a larger scale. Only once would Morrison have used his takeover. As head of the Department of Resources and Energy, he turned down an application for a petroleum exploration license.