‘Scathing’ solicitor-general’s advice on Scott Morrison’s secret powergrab

The tightly-held legal advice, prepared by Australia’s solicitor general Dr Stephen Donaghue QC, was provided to the Prime Minister on Monday.

Bombshell legal advice from the nation’s solicitor-general examining Scott Morrison’s secret power grab is “scathing” of the decision to trash time-honoured conventions that ministerial changes are made public.

The tightly-held legal advice, prepared by Australia’s solicitor general Dr Stephen Donaghue QC, was provided to the Prime Minister on Monday and will be discussed by the federal cabinet on Tuesday.

News.com.au has confirmed with senior government sources that are familiar with its contents that the legal advice is sharply critical of the conduct of the former Prime Minister and will lay the groundwork for a formal investigation into Scott Morrison’s ‘ministry of secrets’.

The legal advice will strongly criticise Mr Morrison’s decision to keep ministers, the public and Parliament in the dark.

Scott Morrison secretly seized control of five ministerial posts. (Photo by Steven Saphore / AFP)

While most constitutional experts do not believe that the solicitor-general will find Mr Morrison acted illegally, the fact that is the case is likely to bolster the push for transparency reforms.

Mr Albanese has flagged he will move to establish some form of inquiry, declaring he was “shocked” by revelations Mr Morrison secretly appointed himself to multiple portfolios.

News.com.au revealed on August 14 that Mr Morrison had secretly sworn himself into the resources portfolio to block a gas project angering the then minister Keith Pitt.

The revelations have sparked a week of controversy as it emerged that Mr Morrison never told then Finance Minister Mathias Cormann he was also appointed to his portfolio or that he subsequently sought the Governor-General’s approval to secretly appoint himself to Treasury and home affairs.

“This undermining of the parliamentary system of government, of the whole Westminster system and our democratic traditions of accountability, are something that aren’t a laughing matter,” Mr Albanese said.

Solicitor-General Dr Stephen Donaghue QC

“I’m surprised at the response of Mr Morrison to this but then again, I frankly was shocked by the revelations.”

Even the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General - which is independent from the Governor-General - has called for more transparency.

“Acknowledging that the administrative appointments were not communicated – as expected, by the government of the day – the office supports a more transparent process to ensure that any appointments made under section 64 [of the Constitution] are made public,’’ a spokesman said.

“Noting that these reporting responsibilities are the prerogative of the government of the day, the office will await the recommendations of the current process before commenting further.”

Mr Albanese said he would share the advice with cabinet on Tuesday before making it public.

“I think politeness and proper process means that they should have access to it,” he said.

The solicitor-general’s advice is publicly released only in the rarest of circumstances.

Previously, then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull released legal advice from the solicitor-general that found Peter Dutton was “not incapable” of sitting in parliament amid debate over a potential conflict of interest.

However, Scott Morrison declined to release advice regarding the attorney-general Christian Porter last year.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

“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.

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.”