Australia

Scott Morrison could face a censure motion over secret ministries scandal

Anton Chekhov Chekhov 3 weeks ago
1 minute read
Key Points
  • Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to five ministerial roles while prime minister.
  • Federal cabinet is meeting to decide whether to censure the former PM over the move.
  • The Opposition has not yet announced whether it would back a censure motion.
Federal cabinet will meet to decide whether former prime minister Scott Morrison will be censured .
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on his predecessor to apologise to parliament for his role in .
Cabinet will on Monday also consider recommendations from a report into Mr Morrison’s conduct, handed down last week by former High Court judge Virginia Bell.

The report made six recommendations, which included public notifications of ministerial appointments.

Mr Albanese said a final decision on whether Mr Morrison would be censured would rest with cabinet.
“You had a shadow government operating in an unprecedented, extraordinary way,” he said.

“You had a prime minister who was standing up in parliament and not telling his own side … let alone the parliament as a whole, who held what portfolio and who was responsible for decisions.”

Opposition workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said she would hold off on a decision on whether to back a censure until cabinet agrees on what it would do.
“The government haven’t even themselves decided whether or not they’ll be proceeding with the censure motion, let’s just wait and see what the government does first,” she said.

The prime minister said he had heard from multiple MPs, including those not in government, that there was a need for parliament to make a statement on Mr Morrison’s secret ministries.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the final decision on a censure will rest with his cabinet. Source: AAP / AAP

“It wasn’t possible to hold ministers to account because people didn’t know who the ministers were,” he said.

“I believe that the parliament is likely to want to express a view on that and we will have a discussion of it.”
Mr Morrison has repeatedly defended his decision to secretly swear himself into five cabinet portfolios, and seek advice on adding a sixth ministry to the list.

In a lengthy Facebook post following the release of the report, Mr Morrison said he was “pleased to assist the inquiry” through his lawyers and he noted the report reaffirmed that his actions were “not found to be unlawful”.

File source

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