Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly swore himself in as joint health, finance and resources minister. Photo / Getty Images
Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly swore himself in as joint health, finance and resources minister. Photo / Getty Images
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has expressed disbelief over revelations his predecessor, Scott Morrison, secretly swore himself in as joint health, finance and resources minister without the knowledge of ministers already in those roles.
Albanese confirmed he is seeking advice on the constitutional legality of Morrison's move and slammed the secrecy surrounding the events at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"This is extraordinary and unprecedented," he said. "Australians knew during the election campaign that I was running a shadow ministry; what they didn't know was that Scott Morrison was running a shadow government."
Albanese said it was "extraordinary" that Morrison had joined other ministers in their portfolios without their knowledge.
"How is it that the Governor-General could swear in Scott Morrison into ministerial portfolios without there being transparency," he asked.
"The people of Australia were kept in the dark as to what the ministerial arrangements were. It's completely unacceptable."
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the revelations about his predecessor were 'extraordinary'. Photo / AP
News.com.au revealed on Sunday that Morrison swore himself in as resources minister and ultimately used that power to roll his own frontbencher, Keith Pitt, over a plan to drill for gas off the New South Wales coast.
It then emerged former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was never informed that Morrison had sworn himself into his portfolio in March 2020.
Sources confirmed Cormann only learned of the secret arrangement through an excerpt of the new book Plagued, by Simon Benson and Geoff Chambers, published in The Weekend Australian last week.
Pitt has told colleagues he was kept in the dark and shocked to learn of Morrison's secret powers during discussions with him and his office in late 2021 over the controversial oil and gas project.
In December of 2021, Morrison announced he was taking the first steps towards killing the gas project. Pitt wanted to move ahead with approvals. Morrison did not.
It was during this process, when he was presented with a range of options, that Morrison revealed to Pitt he was secretly sworn in as the minister and could make the decision himself.
Pitt was so concerned that he asked for the executive order outlining how two ministers could be sworn into the portfolio, only to discover it did not exist.
Coalition sources have told news.com.au Pitt then complained to Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, but was told: "He's the prime minister".
Former Australian Attorney-General Christian Porter is said to have approved of Morrison's plan. Photo / Getty Images
Multiple former cabinet ministers have told news.com.au they either didn't understand why it had been done or objected to it.
"The problem with Scott is he had this grandiose view of himself," one former minister said. "And it was kind of weird."
Government sources have confirmed that ministers can be appointed when ministers are sick for short-term administration without the need to tell the Governor-General but it was unusual for the prime minister to be appointed.
Plagued recounts how Morrison "hatched a radical and, until now, secret plan" with then-Attorney-General Christian Porter's approval.
"Porter advised that it could be done through an administrative instrument and didn't need appointment by the Governor-General, with no constitutional barrier to having two ministers appointed to administer the same portfolio,'' the book says.
The ABC reports that then-Health Minister Greg Hunt agreed to Morrison's joint position as a safeguard to incapacitation from Covid-19.
"I trust you, mate," Morrison told Hunt, "but I'm swearing myself in as health minister, too".
The public was never told of Morrison's secret arrangements, and the reasons for that secrecy have not been explained.
In June, BPH Energy told the stock exchange it had launched a Federal Court challenge to Morrison's gas project decision.
The Australian newspaper reports today Morrison was appointed by Governor-General David Hurley to take control of the entire Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources nearly a year before he scuttled the project weeks out from the federal election.
Federal Court documents reveal that the former prime minister was appointed to administer the super department on April 15, handing him powers over the Commonwealth-NSW Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority "pursuant to sections 64 and 65 of the Constitution".
