Clare Armstrong: Scott Morrison’s answers to secret portfolio saga don’t cut it

There may not be an issue of legality in Scott Morrison secretly taking five portfolios, but of ethics and respect, Australians are right to expect more.

Australians deserve better than what Scott Morrison offered in his flawed and confusing explanation for his secret pandemic ministry power grab.

Throughout his bizarre hour-long press conference Mr Morrison repeatedly attempted to justify his covert move to assume joint control of five ministries by arguing the public — and most of his colleagues — didn’t need to know at the time because they wouldn’t have understood.

According to the former prime minister, we mere mortals who have never walked in his shoes are only judging his actions in 2020 and 2021 from “the shore”, far removed from the “tempest” that was the darkest days of the pandemic.

In case you’re still not convinced, Mr Morrison barely used the self-bestowed powers of the departments of health, finance, treasury, home affairs and resources, so really this whole thing is a storm in a teacup.

But whether standing on the shore, or being thrown around in the metaphorical raging sea that was March 2020, Australians are actually pretty reasonable.

Former PM Scott Morrison addresses the media during a press conference in Sydney. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

When schools were being closed, businesses shuttered and leaving the house was reserved for emergencies or a paltry hour of daily exercise, it’s hard to believe the public would have had a problem with the government announcing a backup plan to keep the whole show running if an important minister fell ill.

Or even as a check and balance on the extreme powers granted to those ministers during unprecedented times of emergency.

Not only did Mr Morrison decide on behalf of all Australians they couldn’t cope with this knowledge at the time.

(He was worried about the “angst” it would cause).

He didn’t even tell his own senior colleagues.

Mr Morrison said his emergency powers were precautionary and only gave one example where he had used them to veto a controversial offshore gas drilling project in NSW.

He went further by saying the secrecy — including not even telling most of the ministers whose roles he was jointly assuming — was “proof” of his “lack of interference”.

Mr Morrison’s media conference lasted an hour. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

But even if jointly running finance and health in the emergency phase of the pandemic can be justified, Mr Morrison’s logic completely falls apart 12 months later when he took on the resources, and later treasury and home affairs portfolios.

Anyone who can follow the mental gymnastics required for this series of events deserves an Olympic gold medal.

In March 2020 as the Covid pandemic was threatening life as we knew it, Mr Morrison personally discussed this portfolio sharing arrangement with then-health minister Greg Hunt.

But he left it to “communication between offices” for his former finance minister Mathias Cormann to be clued in.
We now know Mr Cormann was never told at the time, for which Mr Morrison has apologised.

Yet in May 2021 when Mr Morrison was sworn into the departments of treasury and home affairs, there was no such consideration of letting Josh Frydenberg or Karen Andrews know because he didn’t want to be seen to “undermine” them.

Karen Andrew has called for Mr Morrison to quit. Picture: Mike Batterham

Former Health Minister Greg Hunt was the only colleague Mr Morrison told about his power grab.

Weeks earlier, Mr Morrison had clearly been more than happy to undermine the authority of former resources minister Keith Pitt by using his secret powers to nix the offshore gas project.

Asked why he didn’t reveal he was cancelling the project under his powers in the resources portfolio, Mr Morrison offered this astonishing answer.

“I can’t speak for what is known and not known by those asking me questions about what they know or don’t know about the operation of that act,” he said.

At every turn excuses preferred up by the former PM on Wednesday were almost immediately unravelled by the next answer out of his mouth.

There may not be an issue of legality in what Mr Morrison did, but of ethics and respect, Australians are right to expect more from their leaders.

Originally published as Clare Armstrong: Scott Morrison’s answers to secret portfolio saga don’t cut it