Damning report into Scott Morrison's secret ministries

Anthony Albanese will move legislation to require the appointment of a minister be made public after the report into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries scandal has been released.

Anthony Albanese will move legislation to require the appointment of a minister be made public after the report into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries scandal has been released.

Anthony Albanese will move legislation to require the appointment of a minister be made public after the report into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries scandal has been released.

The Prime Minister will recommend at the next cabinet meeting the government accept all six recommendations from the report compiled by former High Court of Australia justice Virginia Bell.

Included in the recommendations are that there be new laws to require the public notice of the appointment of ministers, while there should also be publication of acting ministers.

The report, which was released on Friday, also recommended the publication of an outline of divisions of responsibilities of ministers that oversee the same department.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Picture: AAP

The PM commissioned the inquiry after it was revealed in August that Mr Morrison had secretly appointed himself as the joint minister in the health, finance, treasury, home affairs, and industry, science, energy and resources portfolios over a period of two years during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The actions of the former prime minister were extraordinary. They were unprecedented, and they were wrong,” Mr Albanese said.

He said the “unprecedented and inexcusable actions of the former prime minister were emblematic of the culture of secrecy in which the previous government operated”.

“I will recommend to the next meeting of cabinet that the Albanese government accept all six of Justice Bell’s recommendations,” Mr Albanese said.

“The quick implementation of these recommendations will ensure that the Australian public can have full confidence that this breach of trust will never happen again.”

READ MORE: The problem with Morrison's pandemic response

Speaking at Parliament House in Canberra shortly after the report was released, Mr Albanese accused Mr Morrison of misleading the parliament by failing to disclose the ministries.

“The actions of the former prime minister were extraordinary. They were unprecedented, and they were wrong,” Mr Morrison said.

“However, members of the former government and current opposition enabled this culture of secrecy.”

Mr Albanese said the report revealed Mr Morrison also considered becoming joint agriculture, water and environment minister but ultimately decided against it.

Mr Morrison did not directly engage with Justice Bell during the inquiry.

In summarising the report, Mr Albanese said Justice Bell found Mr Morrison was sworn in as health minister “in case the relevant minister became incapacitated in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic”.

“But Ms Bell has found that the appointments were unnecessary, as an acting minister could have been appointed if needed, to quote the report, in a matter of minutes,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese said the report deemed the portfolios of resources, Treasury and home affairs had “little connection to the pandemic”.

“Ms Bell found that these appointments were made so that Scott Morrison could exercise specific powers if he decided the relevant minister wasn't going to act, in his terms, in the national interest,” Mr Albanese said.

“The specific powers were the Pep 11 determination, Foreign Investment Review Board decisions … and the power to strip people of their citizenship.”

Mr Albanese said the report found the principles of government were “fundamentally undermined because Mr Morrison was not responsible to the parliament”.

“The secrecy of the appointments, to quote the report, undermined public confidence in government and, to quote again, once the appointments became known, the secrecy with which they had been surrounded was corrosive of trust in government,” Mr Albanese said.

“Ms Bell and other senior public servants quoted in the report describe Scott Morrison's appointments in a range of ways.

“One of the clear quotes is it was an exorbitant grab by Morrison and parliament couldn't hold him to account.

“It's described as bizarre, extremely irregular, unusual and constituting a serious deficiency in governance arrangements.”

The inquiry into the scandal found the self-appointment to additional ministries was “corrosive of trust” in government. It found responsibility for the secret nature of the appointments “must reside” with Mr Morrison.

“Given that the parliament was not informed of any of the appointments, it was unable to hold Mr Morrison to account in his capacity as minister administering any of these five departments,” the report said.

However, the report found the implications of Mr Morrison’s appointments “are limited” given the appointments were not disclosed to the parliament or to the public and Mr Morrison did not exercise any of the powers he enjoyed by reason of his appointments apart from overriding his then resources minister to can the PEP-11 petroleum exploration permit off the coast of NSW.

The report makes six recommendations, including legislative changes to ensure greater transparency and accountability around ministerial appointments in the future.

Earlier, Mr Morrison’s former cabinet members launched fresh criticism of his decision to give himself control of additional ministries.

Mr Morrison’s secret power grab blindsided most of his cabinet members, many of whom only learnt about it when it was reported in the media.

Former finance minister Simon Birmingham said he thought Mr Morrison’s decisions amounted to overreach, particularly his later moves to take control of the treasury, home affairs and industry portfolios.

Senator Birmingham said Mr Morrison’s first self-appointments to the health and finance portfolios could be understood given they were made at the height of uncertainty about the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It’s understandable in terms of those initial ones, although transparency still would have been preferable,” he told Sky News.

“In terms of the latter ones, I think many people still wonder why that occurred.”

Simon Birmingham.

Senator Birmingham said he expected the Bell report to largely repeat the findings of an earlier report into the matter prepared by the government’s top lawyer.

Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC found Mr Morrison didn’t break the law with his ministerial power grab but his secrecy fundamentally undermined the principles of a responsible government.

Senator Birmingham said the opposition would support the recommendations of the Bell report.

“We will support transparency measures, we will support legislation, and the government should act swiftly on any recommendations there,” he said.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg also broke his silence on Mr Morrison’s secret portfolios, revealing he only found out that Mr Morrison had appointed himself as joint treasurer when the story broke in the media.

Mr Frydenberg, speaking to author Nikki Savva for her new book, an excerpt of which was published in the Nine newspapers, said Mr Morrison’s decision was “extreme overreach” and “profoundly disappointing”.

With Catie McLeod/NCA NewsWire

More to come