Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate slams Scott Morrison over secret ministries scandal
Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate has unleashed on former PM Scott Morrison amid revelations he secretly appointed himself to the finance portfolio.
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Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate has lashed Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to the finance portfolio, insisting it raised fresh questions over the “independent” inquiry into the Cartier watches controversy.
Ms Holgate has previously claimed she was “roadkill” for the Prime Minister in the 2020 political furore that erupted after expensive watches were given to a number of Australia Post executives as a reward for performance.
At the time, Mr Morrison called on Ms Holgate to resign after it was revealed she gave Cartier watches to executives and told Parliament she could stand aside or “or she can go”. Shortly thereafter, the finance department undertook a review into expenses at Australia Post.
In a statement, Ms Holgate said that given the Department of Finance conducted the review of her use of Cartier watches as rewards it raised questions about the process.
“I was as disappointed as everyone else to learn the former PM had secretly taken on the most important roles in the cabinet,’’ she said.
“The fact he was secretly Finance Minister, when the finance department were apparently conducting an “independent” inquiry into my matter, is very concerning.
There’s no evidence to suggest however that Mr Morrison interfered in the process at all.
In August last year it was revealed that Australia Post had agreed to pay its former chief executive Christine Holgate $1 million as a termination payment, after mediation before a former Federal Court judge.
She is now the chief executive of Toll Global Express.
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Earlier today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed a formal inquiry into Mr Morrison’s secret power grab.
As he prepares to review legal advice outlining how Mr Morrison secretly appointed himself to five portfolios without his colleagues’ knowledge, Mr Albanese confirmed that the federal cabinet will also consider the matter when it meets on Tuesday.
Asked whether an inquiry was necessary, Mr Albanese said further investigation was required to ensure it can never happen again.
“Quite clearly, there are real questions to be answered here,’’ the Prime Minister said.
“There is a question of legality. There hasn’t been a suggestion of illegality but there are - there have been questions raised about how this could occur, how it fits in with the conventions and the normal accountability mechanisms and checks and balances that are there in our parliamentary democracy.
“There is a basic fundamental weakness in checks and balances if no-one knows who the minister is, then how can they be held to account for decisions which are made?
“That is why there is a need in a parliamentary democracy, and in our Westminster system of cabinet government for cabinet to be aware, let alone the Australian people to be aware of who is responsible for what at any particular time.”
The Prime Minister has confirmed that Australia’s Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC had handed in his legal advice to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Glyn Davis.
He pledged it will be released publicly within 24 hours.
“I will be briefed by the secretary of my department, Glynn Davis, on the advice,’’ he said.
“We have cabinet meetings tomorrow. I think politeness and proper process means that they should have access to it.”
‘Taints us’: Lambie calls for ScoMo to leave politics
Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie has urged Scott Morrison to get out of politics in the wake of the ministry of secrets scandal, insisting the deception “taints” the entire Parliament.
Senator Lambie said the revelations were shocking and she would like Mr Morrison to leave politics.
“I would. I think it taints the rest of us and that gets under my skin, to be honest with you,’’ she said.
However, she added it was up to the voters of his Cook electorate if they believe his performance has been unsatisfactory.
“The only people who can put pressure on him are the people of Cook who elected him in the first place. So they need to decide for themselves whether or not this is normal behaviour or this is just really unsatisfactory and it’s not on and need to start making calls to his office to ask him to leave,’’ she added.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer, the Member for Bass in Tasmania said Mr Morrison should “consider his position” and has backed an inquiry into his conduct.
“I find it incredulous to hear people say, ‘Oh, you know, the Australian people aren’t talking about this’. And I heard that same sort of commentary around an integrity commission,” she said.
“And I can assure you people are talking about it. They’re not necessarily framing it in those terms. What they’re talking about is trust.”
“We don’t want to see this situation occur in the future.”
Ms Archer said that the actions taken by the former Prime Minister did not reflect the Liberal Party.
News.com.au revealed on August 14 that Mr Morrison had secretly sworn himself into the resources portfolio and used the powers to block a gas project known as PEP-11.
It was previously revealed by the Weekend Australian that he had sworn himself into finance and health with then minister Greg Hunt’s support and then Attorney-General Christian Porter’s knowledge.
It subsequently emerged that the former Prime Minister had sworn himself into the home affairs and treasury portfolio without the minister’s knowledge of consent.
It also emerged that then Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was not told either, and that Mr Porter had no idea that Mr Morrison went on to seize four more ministries including finance.
However to date, no evidence has emerged that he expressly used those powers to make decisions beyond the PEP-11 process.
He has described the secret powers as “emergency reserve powers” to be used if he believed a minister who held powers that did not need to be referred to cabinet was poised to make a decision he did not believe was in the national interest.
Mr Morrison has apologised to colleagues via a Facebook post for not telling them but then spent several hours on social media making jokes about the scandal on Thursday night.
Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has conceded he did not push back when Scott Morrison seized the resources minister Keith Pitt in 2021 because he didn’t want his party to lose a position in cabinet.
“If Barnaby Joyce thinks this isn’t the right thing to do, he should have said so at the time. He should have been upfront with the Australian people,’’ Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek told Sunrise.
“At the end of all of this, you’ve got a [former] prime minister who’s kept a power grab secret. And he’s not yet apologised to the people of Australia for going to the last election still keeping that secret.”
Extraordinary. If Scott Morrison genuinely believed he was doing the right thing, why did he keep it a secret from the Australian people?
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) August 16, 2022
News.com.au revealed on Friday that Mr Morrison’s demand for a “direct command and control structure” in the health portfolio led to clashes between Operation Covid Shield co-ordinator Lieutenant General John Frewen and Health Minister Greg Hunt, with the military leader warning he “answered to the Prime Minister”.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic has revealed that the Prime Minister Scott Morrison also took control of the nearly $1 billion in projects before the federal election, more than half of which were in Coalition seats.
However, it does not appear that he used the powers he conferred upon himself to do this on the evidence currently available.
“I was concerned last year when I saw Morrison had made himself the decision maker, wrote to him and his people didn’t think there was an issue,” Mr Husic told Radio National on Monday.
“Instead of prioritising the national interest, the Coalition prioritised the political interest and they announced the bulk of these right before the election.”
Originally published as Former Australia Post boss Christine Holgate slams Scott Morrison over secret ministries scandal
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