Scott Morrison facing censure push as Labor backbenchers speak out

Scott Morrison is likely to be the first MP to be censured by parliament since 2018 as government backbenchers press for the former prime minister to be formally sanctioned for being secretly sworn in to administer additional portfolios.

Five Labor MPs are demanding Morrison be censured for his actions after the release of former High Court judge Virginia Bell’s scathing inquiry into the secret ministries saga.

Former High Court judge Virginia Bell (inset) conducted the inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, supplied

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese indicated on Sunday that a censure motion, in which the parliament formally condemns the behaviour of an MP, was increasingly likely as MPs contacted him about the matter.

Cabinet will on Monday consider the push for a censure motion as part of a broader discussion about Bell’s inquiry. It is expected to back the six recommendations, which include legislation that would improve transparency around ministerial appointments.

The decision to censure an MP is relatively rare and the last MP to be censured was former Liberal minister Bruce Billson in 2018 for taking a paid lobbying job while he was still an MP.

Albanese said Morrison had not shown “any contrition” in his statement on Friday following the release of the Bell inquiry and “the Australian population deserves, and our democracy requires an apology for this”.

“I’ve been contacted by parliamentarians already, not just Labor parliamentarians, who want the parliament to express a view about the usurping of parliament that occurred,” he said, noting the Bell inquiry made it very clear Morrison’s actions “undermined the faith in our parliamentary processes”.

The five Labor MPs – Victorians Julian Hill and Josh Burns, Queenslanders Shayne Neumann and Graham Perrett and Tasmanian Brian Mitchell – all publicly backed the censure of the former prime minister, while several others indicated support but did not want to speak on the record before cabinet had met.

Hill said Morrison remained a member of the lower house and it was clear he had misled the house by not disclosing he had been sworn in to administer the departments of treasury, home affairs, health, finance, and industry, science, energy and resources during his last term in government.

Labor MP Julian Hill.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“Peter Dutton and all of Scott Morrison’s cronies who allowed this to happen have their own explaining to do. At the very least there should be a censure motion to allow for debate,” Hill said.

“We should also seriously consider voting to require Scott Morrison to front the house and provide a formal explanation, given he failed to front Justice Bell’s inquiry ... a letter from a lawyer referring to a Facebook post is a nonsense response, he can’t be allowed to get away with this”

In his response, Morrison referred to the fact that the ministry appointments had been made “during a time of significant challenge” and noted Bell’s inquiry had found no unlawful conduct.

Neumann said Morrison’s actions were “an affront to democracy he deserves to be censured for what he has done”.

Perrett said the former prime minister had undermined and attacked democracy “so if democracy speaks up in response to his inappropriate actions that would be a fair outcome”.

Mitchell said a formal censure was a very serious matter and required deliberation by the cabinet, before adding “I know which way I would be going”.

Burns said a considered and appropriate response was required by the parliament after Morrison’s “unprecedented power grab”.

Liberal workplace relations spokeswoman Michaelia Cash ducked questions about whether the opposition would support the motion.

“My understanding is 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 do first,” she said.

Bell’s inquiry found the secret appointments were “apt to undermine public confidence in government” and also revealed that Morrison had made plans to be appointed to administer the water, agriculture and environment portfolios.

It contained pointed criticisms of Morrison and the former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Phil Gaetjens. It raised questions about why the appointments were made and, once they had been made, why more was not done to ensure the appointments were made public.

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