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On Tuesday (23 August), Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that the cabinet had agreed to launch an inquiry into the events that led to former prime minister Scott Morrison “secretly” being appointed to administer the health, finance, and resources portfolios at various stages over 2020 and 2021.
As recently revealed, the Coalition leader had reportedly asked the Governor-General to appoint him as minister of the key portfolios without making it publicly known. Moreover, in some instances the appointments appear to have been made without the knowledge of the ministers running the portfolios.
Given the political and public outcry following the news, the Labor leader Mr Albanese has pledged to look into the matter and moved to formalise the appointments of ministers in the Commonwealth Gazette.
“I have directed the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to work with the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General to adopt a practice of publishing in the Commonwealth Gazette future appointments of ministers to administer departments,” Mr Albanese said.
“I will also give consideration to whether any further immediate changes are required.
“Cabinet has agreed there will be an inquiry into these events and will now consider what form that inquiry will take.”
Mr Albanese said that there were a range of different options available to the government, but it has been agreed that it “needs to be not a political inquiry, but an inquiry with an eminent person with a legal background to consider all of the implications”.
The Prime Minister said that the government would make a future announcement regarding the inquiry, but that the announcement of such an inquiry served as notice of one needing to take place.
“This isn’t something that can be just dismissed,” he said.
“My government is seeking to restore the Australian public’s faith in our institutions and put an end to the culture of secrecy.
“Our democracy is precious and we are committed to strengthening it.”
Solicitor-General opinion released
The inquiry comes after the Prime Minister released the Solicitor-General’s opinion regarding the validity of the appointment of Coalition leader Mr Morrison to administer the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.
Mr Albanese had asked the Solicitor-General, Stephen Donaghue SC, to look into whether the appointment on 15 April 2021 was valid.
According to the constitutional lawyer, while the appointment itself was valid under the constitution, the fact that the Parliament, the public and other ministers were not informed about this appointment, was “inconsistent with the conventions and practices that form an essential part of the system of responsible government”.
“That is because it is impossible for Parliament and the public to hold Ministers accountable for the proper administration of particular departments if the identity of the Ministers who have been appointed to administer those departments is not publicised,” the Solicitor-General found.
He added that the existing practices by which appointments such as these are notified to the Parliament and the public are “deficient”.
As such, Mr Albanese said he had agreed and would launch the new Gazette process to try and rectify it.
However, some lawyers have outlined that while the Solicitor-General may have found that the move was not illegal, it was still “not right”.
Scientia Professor George Williams at UNSW took to Twitter to state: “The fact that these appointments were lawful does not make them right. As the SG identifies, the failure to inform Parliament and the public fundamentally undermined responsible government. Without transparency, it is not possible to hold a validly appointed minister to account.
“An inquiry must examine the implications of the SG’s advice and the reforms required. This should include Parliament legislating for transparency in ministerial appointments. A Royal Commission into the pandemic response by governments more generally is also needed.”
The Solicitor-General’s conclusions are relevant to the circumstances of Mr Morrison’s appointments to administer other portfolios during 2020 and 2021, which followed the same process, Mr Albanese added.
For example, Mr Morrison was appointed to administer the Department of Health on 14 March 2020 and the Department of Finance on 30 March 2020.
The former finance minister Mathias Cormann reportedly did not know that Mr Morrison had sworn himself in as finance minister during the pandemic.
The shadow minister for financial services, Stuart Robert MP, told Sky News last week that “Scott Morrison has apologised for the lack of judgment, not bringing it to full cabinet, not seeking the counsel of his colleagues – that’s why cabinet government is so good.”
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