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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani and Natasha May

Barnaby Joyce says ‘nothing illegal done’ by former PM amid calls to resign – as it happened

Scott Morrison Anthony Albanese Carine King Keith Pitt ABC Radio

What we learned: Tuesday, 16 August

And with that, we will close the blog for the day. Here’s what happened today:

  • The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced that former PM Scott Morrison had appointed himself to five additional ministries, including Treasury and home affairs. The PM is expecting legal advice on the matter by Monday.

  • Morrison issued a lengthy statement on his Facebook page, apologising to colleagues, and saying he “had not recollected these arrangements” until today and added that the appointments were in the “national interest”.

  • The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, called for “cooler heads to prevail” and did not call for Morrison to resign.

  • Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was reportedly never informed by Morrison that the former PM had himself sworn in as treasurer.

  • Past and present MPs criticised Morrison for the move, including Zali Steggall, Bridget McKenzie, Karen Andrews, Pauline Hanson, Bridget Archer, and Malcolm Turnbull.

  • The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, said the recruitment process that gave John Barilaro a NY trade job was ‘flawed from the outset’, and announced changes to the Government Sector Employment Act.

  • Indigenous people will be able to give evidence about injustices committed against them in Queensland as part of the plans to sign a treaty with the state’s First Nations people.

  • A petition signed by more than 65,000 Victorians to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 was been handed to crossbench MP Fiona Patten.

  • The Bureau of Meteorology has issued an alert saying there is a 70% chance of a La Niña being declared later this year.

  • Victorians who have tested positive to Covid will be able to vote over the phone in the November election.

  • Across the country today, 73 people died from Covid.

Updated

SA confirms second case of monkeypox

South Australia has recorded its second case of monkeypox, SA Health have confirmed.

The man, who recently returned from overseas, is currently isolating at home, with two close contacts identified and receiving advice, SA Health said in a statement.

There is no risk to public health.

SA Health continues to test people with illnesses compatible with MPX as needed.

Updated

Lack of transparency around Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolios ‘unacceptable’, says Bridget Archer

Earlier this afternoon, Liberal MP Bridget Archer was on ABC News, and said measures need to be introduced to prevent a future PM from taking on portfolios in secret.

I know the prime minister has said he will be doing some further inquiries into this matter, but certainly on the face of it, it’s unacceptable, particularly around the lack of transparency involved with this.

I’ve spoken a lot about integrity obviously in the last 12 months, and this is the type of thing that is a good example, where the public needs to have trust and confidence in their elected officials and it requires a level of transparency that I don’t think we have seen in regard to this matter, both in relation to Mr Morrison and his conduct himself, but [also] broadly around, what happens to stop this situation from occurring in the future? Which I think is an important consideration.

I don’t know that other Australians understand this is something that could occur in this way, so there is a wider conversation as well.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull: ‘What worries me most’ about Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments is that nobody stopped him

Former PM Malcolm Turnbull has called Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolios “profoundly wrong”.

Turnbull, who was talking to ABC Radio in Melbourne, added that what “really, deeply” troubled him was that no one stopped Morrison:

What really, deeply troubles me is that there are other people in the system who clearly thought it was okay.

The governor general is not just a rubber stamp. They have a constitution to uphold.

There is something profoundly wrong that someone didn’t stand up and say, ‘stop it ScoMo, this is bonkers’, and that’s what worries me the most.

Updated

What is driving the 70% chance of a third La Niña in three years?

As noted in an earlier post, the Bureau of Meteorology has lifted its Pacific climate driver monitor to “alert” levels for another La Niña. Conditions now and forecast place the chance of a third La Niña in as many years as a 70% chance.

There are a couple of things of note from the fortnightly update of climate drivers from BoM ... one related to what’s going on in the Indian Ocean.

Negative IODs, or Indian Ocean dipoles, typically mean more moisture than usual streaming across the continent in the form of north-west cloud bands, lifting rainfall in late winter and through spring in south-eastern Australia.

The Pacific, meanwhile, typically is more influential for eastern Australia from spring into summer, and another La Niña (or even a near-La Niña) would elevate the chance of above-average rainfall.

Given the full dams and saturated catchments, above-average rainfall likely means more flooding, hence the warnings from the Queensland government this week.

Authorities made similar warnings last year ahead of the second La Niña, but whether that made sufficient difference (in NSW at least) will likely be known when the NSW floods inquiry report is released.

One other note from the BoM update today. The Southern Annual Mode, the other influence (from the Southern Ocean) on Australia’s climate is forecast to be in its positive phase for the next month or so. (Forecasting is limited.)

As BoM says: “A positive SAM has a drying influence for parts of south-west and south-east Australia at this time of year, but increases the likelihood of rainfall in eastern NSW, far eastern Victoria, and parts of southern Queensland.”

Guess that means western Victoria and western Tasmania will stay relatively dry, for the next few weeks at least.

Updated

Scott Morrison’s decision to block gas exploration project under scrutiny

Another element to the fallout from Scott Morrison taking on a series of ministerial portfolios in secret surrounds the rejection of a gas exploration project off the coast of NSW.

Asset Energy was behind that project, and its executive director, David Breeze, refused to comment to the ABC on the matter, saying it was before the courts, but said he believed the decision was made “contrary to administrative law”.

I’m not really in a position to comment on the case format itself because of that matter. I know that Mr Albanese has made similar commentary, but essentially, we believe that the way in which the decision was made was contrary to administrative law.

So, the bias that we are alleging is consistent with the administrative law precedent in this type of case, where the person who was a decision-maker has to, in fact, follow certain process – and beyond that, I can’t comment.

Updated

National Covid summary: 73 deaths reported

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 73 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

  • Deaths: 4

  • Cases: 412

  • In hospital: 138 (with 2 people in ICU)

NSW

  • Deaths: 24

  • Cases: 7,145

  • In hospital: 2,141 (with 60 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

  • Deaths: 0

  • Cases: 209

  • In hospital: 40 (with 2 people in ICU)

Queensland

  • Deaths: 17

  • Cases: 3,232

  • In hospital: 487 (with 23 people in ICU)

South Australia

  • Deaths: 5

  • Cases: 1,336

  • In hospital: 286 (with 13 people in ICU)

Tasmania

  • Deaths: 2

  • Cases: 518

  • In hospital: 61 (with 4 people in ICU)

Victoria

  • Deaths: 20

  • Cases: 4,858

  • In hospital: 535 (with 25 people in ICU)

Western Australia

  • Deaths: 1

  • Cases: 2,145

  • In hospital: 294 (with 11 people in ICU)

Gillian Helfgott, astrologer and wife of pianist David Helfgott, dies aged 90

The family of Gillian Helfgott, wife of Shine pianist David Helfgott, have announced she has died after a short illness.

The 90-year-old astrologer, who was also the mother of filmmakers Sue and Scott Murray, was described as an “incandescent force in diverse areas of life” by her family:

A renowned astrologer, she met David in Perth in 1983 and dedicated the rest of her life to seeing his triumphant return to the concert stage after years in obscurity and incarceration in a mental institution.

The Oscar-winning film Shine and Gillian’s New York Times best-selling autobiography, Love You to Bits and Pieces: Life with David Helfgott, brought their story to the world.

Gillian lived with David in idyllic countryside outside Bellingen, NSW, where she was an irrepressible force, helping the annual Camp Creative festival find local and international success, while also proudly supporting and promoting the 80-strong Bellingen Youth Orchestra.

A vivacious, social and passionate woman, Gillian will be long remembered and treasured.

Updated

Morrison’s resignation from parliament would be ‘appropriate’, Karen Andrews says

Andrews reiterated her calls for Morrison to resign, telling the ABC’s Andrew Probyn that the former PM’s actions “reflect incredibly badly” on the former government:

I’ve made my views clear that based on what we know so far and the fact that there was available secrecy, then it would be appropriate in my view for Scott Morrison to resign and to leave parliament.

I think this reflects incredibly badly on the government of the time and that’s unfortunate given that most, if not all, cabinet ministers were completely unaware that this action was being taken.

And I think it has diminished Scott Morrison as prime minister and it has diminished the cabinet.

Updated

Karen Andrews says her role in election day boat arrival announcement extended to issuing of ‘apolitical statement’

Andrews was next asked about the boat arrival announced on election day, and if that is now a more complicated issue knowing Scott Morrison held the home affairs portfolio as well.

Andrews says she had no role in the “politicisation” of the arrival, adding her role was only that a statement was requested:

Well, there were clearly two parts to what happened on election day. One was the issuing of an apolitical statement to say that a boat had been intercepted.

The second part of what happened as a result of that was the politicisation of that boat interception.

So I had no involvement in the second part of that, in the terms of the politicisation, my role was in the request for an issue of statement that was to be very factually based, just to say that a boat had been intercepted.

Updated

Former home affairs minister says ‘there were certainly no discussions with me’ about Morrison’s appointments

Former home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, appears incensed that she was sharing her portfolio with the former PM, and said his actions were “unacceptable”.

Andrews was on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and said one minister at least should have been made aware of the appointments:

The issue really is that he swore himself into these portfolios, there seems to be no discussion with any cabinet ministers but I may well be surprised to find that there were some discussions. There were certainly no discussions with me, and that is where I think that the secrecy surrounding the swearing in of Scott Morrison to those portfolios is unacceptable.

I think any minister who had someone else sworn into their portfolio … should have been consulted about that, at the very least advised prior to it happening; but in the case of home affairs, I did not know it was even being contemplated, let alone that it had happened.

Updated

‘There was nothing illegal done’: Barnaby Joyce rejects calls for Scott Morrison to resign

Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has rejected calls for Scott Morrison to resign, but conceded that the former PM’s secret portfolios should not have happened at all.

Joyce told the Australian:

I don’t think he should resign, there was nothing illegal done.

Should it have happened in the form it did? No. Should it have happened at all? Probably not, in part. Does it carry much weight at the supermarket checkout? Comes distant last to the price of groceries.

Updated

New election rules to allow Victorians in Covid isolation to vote over the phone in November

Victorians who have tested positive to Covid will be able to vote over the phone in the November election.

The Andrews government has revealed new electoral regulations will allow Victorians in isolation to participate on polling day. The changes will also extend electronic-assisted voting to Victorians impacted by other emergency situations – if a determination is made by the state’s electoral commissioner.

At the federal election in May, phone-in voting was expanded to accommodate people in isolation with Covid.

Victoria’s government services minister, Danny Pearson, said the changes would ensure Victorians with Covid could comply with public health restrictions and vote.

As always, Victorian voters will also have the option of voting at any voting centre in the state on election day, voting before election day at any early voting centre, or applying to vote by post.

Updated

Former finance minister also unaware that Morrison secretly held portfolio

The former finance minister, Simon Birmingham, was also unaware that Morrison held the finance portfolio at the same time as he did, after he took over from Mathias Cormann in late 2020.

Birmingham declined to comment on Morrison’s decision to take responsibility for his portfolio along with four others, which he held from March 2020 until the May election this year.

“As finance minister, I exclusively exercised all powers and responsibilities vested in me with no interference or engagement from anyone else,” Birmingham told Guardian Australia.

“I am not casting judgment or otherwise on his decision.”

Updated

Nationals leader: Morrison’s explanation is ‘fulsome’ and matter should now ‘end’

The leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, says Australians should “accept” Scott Morrison’s explanations for his secret ministerial portfolios.

Littleproud told the Australian that Morrison’s Facebook post that supposedly explained his reasoning was “fulsome and wholesome” and that the matter should now “end.”

While it’s hard to understand how an explanation for taking on ministerial roles in secret is “wholesome”, tellingly, Littleproud also said the Facebook post should lead to people respecting Morrison’s “legacy”:

That’s where the matter should end.

I appreciate colleagues were disappointed but I think Mr Morrison’s given a full explanation and I think we should accept that. There’s a process the government’s started and I respect that.

What we asked the former prime minister to do was give an explanation. Reading through that explanation, while he acknowledges he didn’t get it necessarily right, he acted with the right intent.

The fact he’s been able to clarify his actions in what were extraordinary times, it was important for clarification to respect those instructions and his legacy. He should be respected for it.

Updated

BOM issues La Niña alert

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued an alert, making it a 70% chance of a La Niña being declared later this year. If it eventuates, that would make it the third summer in a year that, Australia would be facing the weather event.

It would be the first time on record that three consecutive La Niña events would coincide with back-to-back negative Indian Ocean Dipoles:

Updated

Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani with you for the rest of the day, and a quick thanks to Natasha May for expertly guiding us through a hectic morning.

Updated

I am signing off and handing over to the wonderful Mostafa Rachwani who will be with you for the rest of the day!

Updated

McCormack defends Morrison

The former Nationals leader and current member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, has just spoken with Sky News, defending former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five ministries.

McCormack said the decisions were made in the best interest of keeping Australians alive during the pandemic.

Scott Morrison made the right decision at the right time to keep Australians alive.

McCormack says the uproar comes as a PR exercise for the upcoming book titled Plagued, which is written by political reporters from the Australian.

The Australian first reported Morrison swore himself in as health and finance minister during the early stages of the pandemic, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, today revealed that it was five additional ministries in total – Treasury, home affairs, health, finance and resources.

Sky News presses McCormack on the criticisms that have come from constitutional experts but McCormack has suggested another constitutional expert could provide a different opinion.

Updated

Martin Pakula is one of the senior Victorian Labor government ministers set to resign ahead of the November state election, but networking platform LinkedIn (or at least its job-seeking algorithm) has other ideas about where his career could head.

Pakula, the former minister for tourism, sport and major events in the Andrew’s’ government, took to social media to jokingly share a screenshot of LinkedIn’s suggestion he work for the newly elected United Australia Party senator, Ralph Babet.

The position as “electorate officer B” is currently open and LinkedIn has told Pakula it is a “top pick” for him.

The election of the former real estate agent as a Victorian senator was the sole fruit of billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer’s party finally claiming a federal seat after spending an estimated $180m in the past two elections.

Updated

Barilaro appointment not done 'fully in keeping' with code of ethics, report finds

The decision to hire former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro for a lucrative New York trade job was not done “fully in keeping” with the code of ethics governing public servants in the state, a long-awaited report into the appointment had found.

The report by the former NSW public service commissioner Graeme Head was released today, following a press conference in which the premier, Dominic Perrottet, admitted to “fundamental errors” and “mistakes” during the hiring process.

Perrottet said:

It’s very clear that mistakes have been made, not just at one point, but at various points along the recruitment process.

The fundamental issue here is the flawed recruitment process that has taken place.

The Head report, commissioned by Perrottet after the Guardian revealed Barilaro had been appointed to the job after another candidate, the former senior public servant Jenny West, raised a series of issues with both the first and second recruitment process for the job.

Over the second, which eventually appointed Barilaro, Head found that the chief executive of the agency responsible for filling the role, Amy Brown, may not have been “fully in keeping” with the code.

He found a series of issues – including Brown having “involved” Ayres in “discussions about the composition of the shortlist” for the job, and arranging for candidates to meet with Ayres – were not “managed fully in keeping with the requirements” of the code of ethics.

Perrottet has agreed to a series of changes to the ministerial code of conduct, including the creation an 18-month buffer before former ministers can take jobs in a public sector agency that reported to them.

Updated

WA records one Covid death and 294 people in hospital.

There were 2,145 new cases in the last reporting period, and 11 people are in intensive care.

South Australia records five Covid deaths and 286 people in hospital.

There were 1,336 new cases in the last reporting period, and 13 people are in intensive care.

Hanson renews calls for royal commission into pandemic response

The case for a Covid royal commission has been strengthened by explosive revelations about Scott Morrison’s secret ministry positions, One Nation’s Pauline Hanson says, renewing her calls for a probe into Australia’s pandemic response.

Labor members of a Senate committee into Covid recently backed a royal commission, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stopped short of explicitly committing to such an inquiry. Hanson on Tuesday accused Morrison of an “overreach of authority”.

“I’ve always said Mr Morrison was arrogant, but this well and truly takes the cake,” Hanson said.

It beggars belief he appointed himself to several ministerial positions without notifying parliament, the people or even his own cabinet ministers. Yet it’s part and parcel of the culture of secrecy and arrogance that was fostered by all Australian governments at the height of the pandemic.

Hanson said Australians “have the right to know everything about” how governments managed the pandemic.

Asked about a royal commission earlier today, Albanese said he supported an inquiry but didn’t explicitly endorse a royal commission.

“I’ve said consistently that once we were through the pandemic, it would be inconceivable, regardless of who won the election in May, that you would not have a proper examination of the circumstances around the handling of the pandemic,” he said.

Updated

The Australian: two former department secretaries unaware of Morrison self-appointment

Returning to Scott Morrison again, the Australian newspaper is reporting that then Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy and then Department of Home Affairs’ secretary Michael Pezzullo were both unaware Morrison appointed himself minister under both portfolios.

Updated

Perrottet says recruitment process that gave Barilaro NY trade job was ‘flawed from the outset’

Amid everything happening today, the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, has been speaking to reporters about the review into the recruitment process that handed former deputy premier John Barilaro a $500,000-a-year trade job in New York.

Perrottet called said recruitment process “disappointing,” adding that it had caused many people “distress” and that it was “flawed from the outset.” Importantly, though, the premier seems to placing the entire blame on the process itself:

The process was flawed from the outset.

The clear processes that were in place were not there and not followed. The fundamental issue here is not on any of the trade commissioners, it’s not on any of the applicants.

The fundamental issue here is the flawed recruitment process that is taking place. That’s not their fault. That’s not anyone’s fault in relation to those people who have applied.

Mr Barilaro has applied for this role. He was not to know of the flawed process that has been in place. No minister knew of the flawed process that was in place.

Mistakes will happen from time to time, that’s just part of politics, that’s part of any government. What’s very clear to me here is that the structures of this recruitment process were not robust.

Dominic Perrottet
Dominic Perrottet speaks to the media earlier today. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

At the press conference, where he announced changes to the Government Sector Employment Act, Perrottet said he hoped he can restore confidence in his government after the controversial appointment:

I want to restore that confidence and I believe that these changes do that.

Mistakes will happen from time to time, and that’s just part of politics. This change today ensures that these errors won’t happen again.

Updated

Morrison justifies resources appointment as in the ‘national interest’

While Scott Morrison claimed he never used the powers of finance, health, resources or treasury portfolios, his long statement goes on to outline “The decision in relation to the Department of Industry, Energy and Resources was undertaken in April 2021 for separate reasons” outside the pandemic.

He said he took over that portfolio so he could “directly” consider the Pep-11 gas exploration project. That project could only be considered by the resources minister, not cabinet – Morrison said he had “full confidence” in the then resources minister Keith Pitt, but his statement did not explain why Morrison decided to step in himself.

He said:

I believe I made the right decision in the national interest. This was the only matter I involved myself directly with in this or any other department.

Scott Morrison and Keith Pitt in 2020
Scott Morrison and Keith Pitt in 2020. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Morrison calls appointments a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ safeguard

Scott Morrison’s statement goes on to apologise to his former ministerial colleagues “for any offence”. It’s been reported that a number of the former ministers – treasurer Josh Frydenberg, home affairs minister Karen Andrews, resources minister Keith Pitt and finance minister Mathias Cormann – were not aware of the arrangements until well after they were made.

Morrison earlier today said he had no recollection of being sworn into any portfolios beyond health, finance and resources. In his statement, he said he sought advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet today, and “had not recollected these arrangements having been put in place. There was a lot going on at the time.”

Morrison said he never used any of the powers of his additional ministries in health, finance, resources or treasury – and claimed that had he done so, he would have disclosed his ministry position and authority for doing so.

He said:

The crisis was a highly dynamic environment and it was important to plan ahead and take what precautions could lawfully be put in place to ensure I could act, as prime minister, if needed..

Morrison claimed he did not get copied in on ministerial briefs, saying he was not a “co-minister”. Instead he described the arrangements “as a ‘break glass in case of emergency’ safeguard.”

Updated

Morrison admits ministry appointments were unnecessary in hindsight

More on Morrison’s social media post.

Scott Morrison has posted a very long explanation of his secret ministerial appointments on Facebook, confirming he did indeed take on home affairs and treasury responsibility in 2021, and saying it was because of his concern over ministers at a “junior level” potentially having to take over those roles.

In a statement nearly 1,300 words in length, the former prime minister justified his actions in being secretly sworn into five separate portfolios, saying he “considered it necessary to put in place safeguards, redundancies and contingencies to ensure the continuity and effective operation of government during this crisis period, which extended for the full period of my term”.

He said:

I took the precaution of being given authority to administer various departments of state should the need arise due to incapacity of a minister or in the national interest. This was done in relation to departments where ministers were vested with specific powers under their legislation that were not subject to oversight by Cabinet, including significant financial authorities.

It is not uncommon for multiple ministers to be sworn to administer the same department. However, given that such additional ministers were in a more junior position in the relevant departments, and would not be familiar with all the details of the pandemic response, I considered it appropriate that the redundancy be put in place at a higher level within the government and not at a more junior level.

He said finance and health were the first ones, in early 2020, with home affairs and treasury added in May 2021 “as an added administrative precaution, as a ‘belts and braces’ approach”.

However Morrison did not explain why he waited until mid-2021 to make this change. This was before the Melbourne lockdown in late May 2021 and the Sydney lockdowns in June that year.

I did not consider it was likely that it would be necessary to exercise powers in these areas [home affairs and Treasury], but the future was very difficult to predict during the pandemic.

As events demonstrated with the resurgence of Covid-19 in the second half of 2021, we could never take certainty for granted. In hindsight these arrangements were unnecessary and until seeking advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet today, I had not recollected these arrangements having been put in place. There was a lot going on at the time.

Morrison apologised to his colleagues “for any offence.”

The post did not directly address calls for his resignation from parliament.

Updated

Morrison apologises to colleagues, 'had not recollected these arrangements' until today

The former prime minister Scott Morrison has issued a very lengthy statement on his Facebook page, following the new revelations that came from Anthony Albanese’s press conference earlier today.

Morrison had appeared on 2GB radio earlier this morning and failed to mention his appointments to the Ministry of Home Affairs and to Treasury which were later revealed by Albanese.

Morrison posted 20 minutes ago:

As an added administrative precaution, as a “belts and braces” approach, the Departments of Treasury and Home Affairs were added some time after in May 2021 … In hindsight these arrangements were unnecessary and until seeking advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet today, I had not recollected these arrangements having been put in place. There was a lot going on at the time.

Morrison also apologised to his colleagues through the post:

I have endeavoured to set out the context and reasoning for the decisions I took as prime minister in a highly unusual time. I did so in good faith, seeking to exercise my responsibilities as prime minister which exceeded those of any other member of the government, or parliament. For any offence to my colleagues I apologise. I led an outstanding team who did an excellent job and provided me great service and loyalty as ministers.

Updated

NSW premier hands down report into Barilaro trade job appointment

NSW premier Dominic Perrottet is speaking following the handing down of the Graeme Head Review into the appointment of John Barilaro to the $500,000-a-year trade commissioner role in New York.

He is announcing the changes that have come of the report, including:

  • A minister cannot direct a secretary in the exercise of their employment function.

  • Changes to ministerial code of conduct will see a minister be required to wait 18 months before taking on a role in the public sector.

  • Senior public servants will also need to seek ethics advice in relation to future employment, which will be publicly published.

Updated

‘Rolled gold example’: Shoebridge on Morrison secret minister saga

More on the Greens’ response to the secret Morrison appointments following a public press conference earlier.

Greens senator David Shoebridge says his party will refer the secret minister saga to the federal parliament’s privileges committee, insisting the Department of Premier and Cabinet can’t run an investigation into something it advised former prime minister Scott Morrison on at the time.

While some ministers have said they were not aware Morrison had also been sworn in alongside them, Shoebridge said at a press conference on Tuesday that the privileges committee should also examine the role of the other ministers who were sharing their portfolios. He said:

We need to have not only former prime minister Scott Morrison answer questions, but of course those other ministers.

How could they stand up in parliament notionally answering questions about their portfolio, knowing at the same time that just behind them was some secret minister in the form of the prime minister who might veto their decisions?

While the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has avoided criticising the governor general, David Hurley, in his role in appointing Morrison to the five extra ministries, Shoebridge said it was “hard to understand” how he had agreed to the arrangement.

This wasn’t a tick-and-flick exercise by the governor general; this was a critical part of our constitutional makeup.

Shoebridge labelled the secret minister saga a “rolled gold example” of the need for a federal Independent Commission Against Corruption and called on Labor to introduce the body by the end of the year,

… and commit to it having a broad enough jurisdiction so it can look at this entire mess.

Updated

Frydenberg reportedly not informed Morrison was sworn in as treasurer

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, earlier today revealed former prime minister Scott Morrison was appointed to the Department of the Treasury on May 6 2021.

The Australian is reporting that the former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was never informed by Morrison that the former prime minister had himself sworn in as treasurer, but does not name the source of this information.

Editor at large Paul Kelly reports:

Frydenberg, the Liberal deputy leader, had no knowledge of this. Nor was Mr Frydenberg informed that Mr Morrison had himself also sworn in as finance minister from March 2020.

These events are without precedent in national politics. That Mr Frydenberg was never told by Mr Morrison is baffling given the close ties between them.

Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg
Then prime minister Scott Morrison and then Treasurer Josh Frydenberg at a press conference in early May 2022. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

Updated

Dutton says he will wait for legal advice

Dutton has stressed that Morrison’s decisions were made in a “warlike situation” when cabinet ministers like himself were hospitalised with Covid-19.

At the start of this pandemic … leaders all over the world, it was a warlike situation and there is concern about what would happen … there was concern as to what would happen in … the cabinet at the time, and I was sent to hospital, and people were in ventilators, and people were dying at that stage and that’s the context in which the prime minister at the time, Mr Morrison, made some of those decisions.

As he explained this morning, I wasn’t aware … I wasn’t there for decision-making in that regard and I think he’s made statements this morning that you can reflect on.

Asked if he would act the same as Morrison, Dutton responded:

I’m not getting into hypotheticals … it’s very hard for anybody to speak beyond what is publicly known now. The prime minister has a process out and thus the appropriate thing to do and will wait back to him on that.

I am the opposition leader. The joy of that is I am not in government. The prime minister has announced the process and they are waiting on legal advice and they will get back next week and I would wait for the legal advice.

He would not respond to the question of whether the former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was aware.

We are also hearing Frydenberg was not aware of the secret ministerial appointments, according to reports in The Australian.

Updated

Dutton calls for ‘cooler heads to prevail’ as other Liberals call for Morrison to resign

Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, has taken to the microphone. While senior Liberals like Karen Andrews are calling for Morrison to resign following the revelations of his secret appointments, Dutton is defending the former prime minister.

He says it is “time for cooler heads to prevail” saying there are “bigger issues families in Australia are dealing with”.

He said it is best to wait for legal advice to come back.

He said he won’t call for Morrison to resign.

Updated

Karen Andrews calls for Scott Morrison to resign

Karen Andrews has continued her calls for Scott Morrison to resign, following the current prime minister Anthony Albanese’s revelation the former PM secretly appointed himself to five portfolios.

She told the Sydney Morning Herald:

I did not know. When it was all unfolding over the last 24 hours I wondered if home affairs would come up for no reason other than he had launched himself into a range of portfolios. I had nothing from him, nothing from PMO, no knowledge.

It is absolutely time for him to resign from parliament. This is unacceptable.

Updated

Andrews to ask Morrison to resign

Karen Andrews, the former home affairs minister, told news.com.au she had “no idea” the former prime minister, Scott Morrison, had sworn himself into her portfolio.

Andrews was home affairs minister at the time Albanese says Morrison was sworn into that portfolio.

She said:

I am going to ask him to resign and leave Parliament.

I have nothing to say to him.

This is totally unacceptable, for a prime minister to behave in this manner undermines everything that a federal government constitutionally should stand for.

Updated

Dutton to speak soon

We are also expecting a press conference with opposition leader Peter Dutton very soon. I’ll bring you what he has to say once he steps up.

Greens to push to refer Scott Morrison to privileges committee

The Greens are calling for Scott Morrison to be referred to the privileges committee to consider whether being appointed to ministries without telling parliament could amount to contempt or misleading parliament.

The party’s attorney general spokesperson, David Shoebridge, told Guardian Australia the creation of “secret ministries” is an “attack on parliamentary accountability”.

He said:

Parliament can’t hold a minister to account if we don’t know a ministry exists ... In the Senate, Simon Birmingham would have been answering questions as the finance minister when it turns out there was also a secret finance minister. How can you hold them to account if you don’t know who they are?

Shoebridge also noted that currently only the department of the prime minister and cabinet is looking into the issue – the same department that would have advised Morrison on the arrangement. “This can’t be the only place we do this investigation,” he said.

Shoebridge confirmed the Greens are currently seeking advice on how to refer Morrison to the privileges committee. At a press conference at noon he will also reiterate calls for a national anticorruption body.

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Raise the age petition to be delivered to Victorian parliament

A petition signed by more than 65,000 Victorians to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14 has been handed to crossbench MP Fiona Patten on the steps of parliament.

Fiona Patten and constituents holding a petition
Fiona Patten (centre), the leader of the Reason party, holds copies of a signed petition calling for the Victorian government to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to at least 14. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP

The petition is part of a national campaign to raise the age, which last year saw the attorneys general of all Australian states and territories agree to move toward raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12. That step has been criticised as too small by justice advocates, who say raising the age to 12 will have a minimal impact on youth imprisonment rates.

Across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, remanded in custody, convicted by the courts and jailed. Indigenous children are disproportionately affected and make up the vast majority of imprisoned children.

Across the country, 211,670 people have signed the petition to raise the age.

Patten told reporters:

I’m just incredibly honoured to be the person that will deliver this petition to the Victorian attorney general … about raising the age of criminal responsibility in Victoria. We are out of step with the rest of the world.

We know that the earlier a child brushes up against the justice system, the more likely they are to continually brush against the justice system. We know that Aboriginal children are so overrepresented in our juvenile justice system [and] that this is going to affect them more than anyone else.

In all of the inquiries that I have done [I’ve found] disadvantage is at the core of this and this will go some way towards changing it.

Patten chairs a parliamentary committee which earlier this year recommended the Victorian government raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14.

She said it would help divert children into social services rather than “trapping” them in the criminal justice system from an early age.

The state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, told reporters her priority is reducing youth offending:

There’s no point raising the age to 12, 13, 14 and just delaying the justice system’s response to that particular child. We’re dealing with really complex kids, kids that are many of them in our home care, many of them require services that we need to make sure are there as a safety net … I don’t want kids incarcerated and what I’m pleased to say that here in Victoria, right now, there are no children that are aged 11 or 12 in custody and that’s been the position for some time.

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Albanese open to reforms

Albanese also indicated he’s open to a range of reforms to ensure that prime ministers in future are bound to make public announcements.

I am open to a change of reforms or suggestions.

But let’s be clear here – this isn’t business as usual. Conventions apply to the way that our democracy functions. It also is the case that the prime minister of the day tables information saying who is responsible for what.

I had a whole week off. I made it clear and put out a statement that Richard Marles would be acting as prime minister last week. It’s important that people know who is in charge at any particular time.

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People of Cook deserve an MP interested in democracy and day-to-day politics, Albanese says

Albanese was also asked if Scott Morrison be considering his position as the member for Cook. His recent comments that he is not interested in day-to-day politics come off the back of his telling people at a Perth church not to trust governments.

Albanese said:

His speech where he said that he didn’t have trust in government. It’s not surprising given that he knew the nature of the government that he ran. And the others who sat around that cabinet table and allowed these circumstances to occur.

So, Mr Morrison has also said that he doesn’t take, doesn’t partake in day-to-day political activity. It’s a very strange comment for a member of the House of Representatives to make, and I think the people of Cook deserve to be represented by someone who is interested in our parliamentary democracy and in day-to-day politics.

Cronulla Beach in the electorate of Cook in Sydney’s south.
Cronulla Beach in the electorate of Cook in Sydney’s south. Photograph: Simon Bullard/EPA

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Inquiry needed into the handling of the pandemic, PM affirms

Albanese has also left open the option of a royal commission into the pandemic more broadly:

I’ve said consistently that once we were through the pandemic, it would be inconceivable, regardless of who won the election in May, that you would not have a proper examination of the circumstances around the handling of the pandemic. Importantly, so that you could prepare any lessons from it. Some of those are obvious … I was in Victoria yesterday announcing the need for us to be more self-reliant with regard to pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

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‘This is not business as usual’: Albanese

Albanese is asked about whether there would have been another way for Morrison to have acted in an emergency situation without having to have sworn himself into those roles:

Quite clearly, there is no explanation that satisfies the swearing in in my view … Australians will make their own judgement.

I’ll make two points that are important. One is that we and I as leader of the opposition agreed to special powers – for example for the minister for finance – to make payments in an emergency circumstance because of the pandemic.

These appointments are quite extraordinary. And this is not business as usual. And I’ll make the other point – across a range of areas, ministers have particular responsibilities that they and they alone are given.

The resources minister had particular responsibility. In that case, it was Keith Pitt. What we know is that if you look at the footage of the announcement by Scott Morrison at that time, Scott Morrison did not say that he was making it as the person who was administered to be in charge of the department of resources as well as minister Pitt. There’s a very clear reason why you do that. Because if you had two people who had contradictory positions, then that can create real issues.

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Politicians, not public servants, are responsible, PM says

Albanese has emphasised that politicians, not public servants, are the ones who need to be held accountable:

Decisions here are made by politicians. They’re the ones that need to be held to account here. The politicians who made these decisions and who asked, obviously, at the time, they asked that this information be kept secret. It’s not up to public servants to release this information. It was up to the decision makers who were the elected representatives.

Albanese is asked because the appointments were a process through executive council, if at least one other cabinet minister must have known about this. He responds:

I’m not privy to that information. I’ve had a briefing this morning that each of the appointments was made under section 64. Appointments were made by the governor general following the prime minister’s recommendations.

Updated

‘I cannot conceive of the mindset that has created this’: Albanese

Moving on to questions from reporters, and Albanese has gone on to express his disbelief at the way in which the former government operated:

I cannot conceive of the mindset that has created this. I cannot conceive of the way that the government has functioned in a way where they said that ‘I’m the prime minister of Australia and I’d also like to be in charge of health, finance, treasury, industry, science, home affairs, resources.’ I cannot conceive of how that occurs.

And I cannot conceive of how a cabinet allows that to happen. I also cannot conceive of how a cabinet committee of one is established. And that’s an issue that we’ve been raising for a period of time. I also cannot conceive of the way that this prime minister, when he was in charge, consistently avoided scrutiny. Consistently avoided scrutiny.

These are serious issues. Serious issues, and the fact that Scott Morrison spent a considerable period of time dismissing things that were fact, as gossip. The fact that he dealt with publicly, what should be publicly available information in the way that he did, and his cabinet colleagues supported this operating odd as the government for four years.

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'It’s an attack on the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy': Albanese

Albanese has gone on to condemn the implications that flow from these appointments, including the text messages sent out ahead of the election.

There are real implications for this. For example, of what the events on May 21 were. Because there we’ve asked questions about the role of the then minister for home affairs, and the announcement by the person we thought was just the prime minister, but we know was also responsible for administering the Department of Home Affairs during that shocking breach of government policy and the abuse of the information that was put out there with text messages to millions of Australians in order to try to pervert the result of the election on May 21.

He has said the situation is an indictment of Morrison as well as “all those cabinet colleagues of his, who sat back and allowed this to happen”.

This is a sad indictment. Of not just Mr Morrison, but all those Cabinet colleagues of his, who sat back and allowed this to happen. It’s undermined our democracy. It’s an attack on the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy as we know it. And not just Mr Morrison, but others, who were involved in this, need to be held to account in the former Morrison government.

‘This is a sad indictment’: Anthony Albanese speaks at Parliament House.
‘This is a sad indictment’: Anthony Albanese speaks at Parliament House. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Advice on legality expected next Monday

Albanese explains how Morrison’s extra appointments were made and says he is seeking further legal advice on the use of these powers.

Each of these appointments made under section 64 of the constitution. It is completely extraordinary that these appointments were kept secret by the Morrison. It is completely contradictory, too, for example, the questions that ministers answered on the floor of the House of Representatives and the Senate. You ask questions of ministers who are responsible for portfolios. The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition tabled in Parliament a list of portfolios and who is responsible for what. And the implications are still being worked through. We know that there is a legal matter in the issue of resources. I am seeking further advice as to the use of these extraordinary powers by Scott Morrison and other examples of it.

And we’ll be receiving a briefing. I’ve asked for advice from the solicitor general and I’m advised that that will be ready next Monday, which I think is August 22, or thereabouts, of this month.

What has occurred here is also a flow on, I believe, from the fact that Mr Morrison’s colleagues sat back and watched power be centralised within the Morrison government. They ticked off on the arrangements that had Scott Morrison as the only member of a cabinet committee. Now, that was in place for some period of time. Once you go down that road of creating a cabinet committee with one member on it, so as to avoid scrutiny that it’s not surprising that further steps will made. First of all, in the area of health, but then it continued through health, finance, treasury, energy, resources, home affairs and more.

Updated

Morrison appointed to five additional ministries, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese says Scott Morrison was appointed to five additional ministries, including treasury and home affairs:

I can say that today, I have been informed by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that between March 2020 in May 2021, the prime minister Scott Morrison was appointed to five additional portfolios.

In addition to his appointment as the head of prime minister and cabinet.

He was appointed to administer the Department of Health on the 14 March 2020.

The Department of Finance on the 30 March 2020.

The Department of Home Affairs on the 6 May 2021.

The Department of the Treasury on six May 2021.

And the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources on the 15 April 2021.

Anthony Albanese speaks to reporters this morning.
Anthony Albanese speaks to reporters this morning. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Albanese holds press conference, calling Morrison ‘the world’s first stealth bulldozer’

The prime minister Anthony Albanese has stepped up to speak in Canberra about the revelations about the former prime minister Scott Morrison’s appointment to several ministerial portfolios in secret.

Albanese describes the moves as an “unprecedented trashing of our democracy” and labels Morrison “the world’s first stealth bulldozer”.

He begins:

There have been revelations of an extraordinary and unprecedented trashing of our democracy by the former Morrison government. This has been government by deception.

I used to say that Scott Morrison had two jobs as prime minister and he botched them both. It turns out I was wrong about there being just two jobs.

He told us he was a bulldozer and his Coalition colleagues just shrugged their shoulders and cheered him on, not in one election but in two elections. Turns out, he was the world’s first stealth bulldozer. Operating in secret, keeping the operations of the government from the Australian people themselves. A misleading parliament as to who was holding what portfolios and who was responsible.

Our democracy is precious. We should be very proud of the democracy we have put created here in Australia. But the Westminster system relies upon checks and balances. The former government, Scott Morrison and others who were involved in this deliberately undermined those checks and balances that are so important and essential for our democracy.

Updated

Queensland records 17 Covid deaths

Queensland has recorded 17 Covid deaths and 3,232 new cases in the latest reporting period, with 487 people in hospital and 23 people in intensive care.

Updated

PM to speak shortly

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will step up for a press conference in Canberra at any moment.

He is expected to make comments after a briefing this morning about former prime minister Scott Morrison’s appointment to cabinet positions in secret.

Albanese told ABC Radio earlier this morning:

This morning I expect to receive more detail on how this occurred. Because this is totally contrary to our Westminster system. It may well be that it takes some time to get to the bottom of this. After all, we have had revelations come out just in the last 72 hours. We will put out information publicly and transparently.

He later told ABC Melbourne that after his briefing “if there are more details to be revealed that the Australian people are entitled to know, I’ll certainly be doing so”.

Updated

Consumer sentiment picks up despite rate rises

Shoppers seem to be struggling off the Reserve Bank of Australia’s August rate rise, at least if the past week’s survey by ANZ and Roy Morgan is a useful guide.

Consumer confidence rose 4.9%, more than reversing the drop in the week of the latest rate rise.

David Plank, ANZ’s head of Australian economics, said the pickup in sentiment “speaks to the strength of the labour market, which we expect to be confirmed by the data due later this week”.

A shopper braves the cold in Melbourne.
A shopper braves the cold in Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

On Thursday we get July labour force data and an update of the 3.5% jobless rate posted in June, in particular. Another drop will add to consumer confidence but make the RBA more twitchy when it comes to how fast and how high to lift interest rates.

The latest indication about consumer expectations – something else of interest to the RBA – rose in the past week but remained steady on a four-week rolling average.

Plank, though, says the ANZ is not “getting carried away”.

“Sentiment toward ‘future financial conditions’ is still well below average and overall confidence is deeply negative,” he said.

Updated

Work safety watchdog bans ACT parliamentary hearings, sparking constitutional dispute

ACT’s safety watchdog has shut down the territory’s parliamentary hearings, after finding it lacked social distancing and adequate plans to prevent the spread of Covid-19, ABC is reporting.

Markus Mannheim reports:

The inspector ordered the shut-down on Friday afternoon, though the assembly continued with hearings on Monday morning — in apparent defiance of the notice — before later adjourning.

Assembly Speaker Joy Burch said the decision had “deep constitutional significance”, and threatened to take the matter to the ACT Supreme Court.

Burch has written a letter to the ACT Work Health and Safety Commissioner Jacqueline Agius, which said the timing prevented the estimates committee from scrutinising budget spending was “particularly egregious”. She wrote:

The terms of the notice are profoundly misconceived as a matter of law, represent a grave threat to the privileges of the assembly, and could quite possibly amount to a contempt of the assembly.

The action taken by you cuts directly across the separation of powers between the legislative and executive arms of government and, on its face, seeks to up-end the exclusive cognisance of the assembly to exercise control over its proceedings.

Updated

Flood warning in Victoria’s east

Victorians from Yallourn to Traralgon in the state’s Gippsland region are being warned to move to higher ground ahead of moderate flooding.

Updated

Hobart council to remove divisive statue of former premier

A contentious statue of a former Tasmanian premier who mutilated the body of an Aboriginal man in 1869 will be taken down by the Hobart City Council.

William Crowther, a surgeon and politician, stole the skull of William Lanne from a morgue and sent it to the Royal College of Surgeons in London.

Crowther was suspended from a position at the Hobart General Hospital as a result. He became premier briefly nine years later.

Hobart City Council on Monday night voted 7-4 to remove the statue from Franklin Square in the capital’s CBD after years of campaigning from Aboriginal groups.

A statue of former Tasmanian premier William Crowther
Hobart city council has voted to remove a statue of former Tasmanian premier William Crowther after pressure from Aboriginal groups. Photograph: Anthony Corke/AAP

Lord mayor Anna Reynolds described it as a practical and meaningful step to reconciliation and one part of a broader national conversation. She told the meeting:

(This) does not change history. The records, the books, the articles, the stories all remain unchanged .

We don’t want to celebrate a time in our history when scientists and doctors wanted to prove theories of European superiority (and) wanted to rank people by their race.

It was an appalling tradition.

Reynolds said the statue would be conserved and potentially reinterpreted. The meeting was told preliminary discussions had been held with the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.

– via AAP

Updated

Tasmanian electricity interconnector stops imports

Tasmania is usually blessed with an abundance of electricity given its hydro resources in particular, as well as its Basslink interconnector with the mainland to fill any short term gap.

It may not be a big deal but Basslink (in receivership since last November) apparently ceased imports this morning (just before 6am AEST and that remains the case).

Without those imports, spot wholesale electricity prices in the NEM were notably higher recently (though the gap has now closed) than the mainland states.

The power interruption, if that’s what it is (we’ve asked), makes it worthwhile to look at the state of Tasmania’s hydro resources. The climate drivers (mostly La Nina and a negative Indian Ocean dipole) that have been pushing extra moisture into much of eastern Australia have not been benefitting western Tasmania.

One consequence is the biggest dam in the Hydro Tasmania system is well below full levels, prompting the state-run company last week to note “the total energy in storage dropped below the Prudent Storage Level” briefly.

As our colleague Adam Morton noted in 2016 (in a different role), drought and Basslink woes prompted the Tassie government to resort to cloud seeding and diesel generators to keep the lights on.

A very long way off that, of course, but a reminder of the complexity (and vulnerability) of our energy supplies.

Updated

Victoria records 20 Covid deaths

Victoria has recorded 20 Covid deaths and 4,858 new cases in the latest reporting period, with 535 people in hospital and 25 in intensive care.

Updated

NSW records 24 Covid deaths

New South Wales has recorded 24 Covid deaths and 7,145 new cases in the latest reporting period, with 2,141 people in hospital and 60 people in intensive care.

Updated

‘Our democracy, frankly, deserve better’: Albanese on Morrison’s secret powers

The prime minister Anthony Albanese followed his ABC Radio interview with another on ABC Melbourne, which came hot on the heels of Scott Morrison’s air time on 2GB.

Virginia Trioli asked Albanese about Morrison’s response saying the arrangements were fine as, quote, “The buck stops with me as prime minister”.

Albanese said Morrison was not right “because on issues like resources, that the buck actually stops with the resources minister under legislation to make particular decisions”.

We don’t have a one-person band here. What we have is a government that has inbuilt checks and balances. And that’s why this is such a breach of convention. It’s a breach of processes. And it is typical of someone who, of course, set up a cabinet committee of one so that he could have meetings with various people and say that it was a meeting of that subcommittee of the cabinet.

It would appear that the former government went out of its way to hide information and to be to have a lack of transparency. No wonder they objected to having a national anti-corruption commission. This went to the very nature in the heart of the Coalition government that governed for a period of time and simply lost any perspective about accountability to the Australian people on the way through, that operated in the shadows. And Australians deserve better. And our democracy, frankly, deserve better as well.

Trioli also asked Albanese about the reports that also came through during the ABC Melbourne interview that Morrison was also secretly sworn into the social services portfolio.

Albanese said he was not aware “of that particular detail”. He said he would be receiving a briefing this morning and will “have more to say later this morning.”

Updated

‘Trumpian’: Zali Steggall on Morrison’s many hats

The independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall, has said she is “very concerned by the lack of accountability and transparency” in Scott Morrison’s decision to be appointed to extra portfolios including finance, resources and health.

Steggall told Guardian Australia that Morrison’s “spin” in describing the move as a safety check in pandemic times “doesn’t explain the secrecy”.

Steggall wants more information on the attorney general’s role, whether solicitor general’s advice was obtained and the governor-general’s “involvement” in the decision not to make the appointments public.

She said:

It seems to be part of a Trumpian desire to turn the prime minister into a presidency, where the PM would gain ultimate say on decisions and the ability to override ministers.

Steggall noted Anthony Albanese has referred the matter for investigation, but suggested the question of whether it should be referred to parliament’s privileges committee is “live” - it “needs to be looked at”.

Steggall said she is concerned by the potential local impact, because the proponent of the Pep11 gas development is challenging the validity of the rejection in court, and “the secrecy may advance an argument for the company challenging the decision”. She would be “incredibly annoyed” if Morrison’s role helped the company get the decision overturned.

Independent MP Zali Steggall
‘It seems to be part of a Trumpian desire to turn the prime minister into a presidency': Independent MP Zali Steggall Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

What does the revelation of Morrison being sworn into a fourth ministry mean?

AAP earlier reported that Scott Morrison had himself sworn into the social services portfolio last year. Morrison has disputed this, saying he had no recollection of that, in his 2GB interview earlier. Let’s go through this.

An administrative arrangements order, dated 28 June 2021 and signed by both Morrison and the governor general David Hurley, sets out a small number of changes of responsibility among ministers. On that document, it notes that the prime minister had taken over administration of the “Social Security Act 1991, insofar as it relates to Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and the Disaster Recovery Allowance”, and the “Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, insofar as it relates to Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and the Disaster Recovery Allowance”.

The AAO shows that those powers were actually held by the home affairs minister previously – not the social services minister. The document also specifically says the social services minister has power over most of the Social Services Acts. The document doesn’t exactly prove that Morrison took on social services minister roles, just that he was given administration of one part of that portfolio’s legislation, which was actually previously a power of the home affairs minister.

Morrison told 2GB that he didn’t recall being sworn in as social services minister, but that he was “pursuing” such questions: “I’m happy if there are other (portfolios) to be out there.”

In an ABC Melbourne interview, the PM Anthony Albanese said he too was not aware of Morrison taking on social services, but flagged: “I’ll be receiving a briefing this morning shortly. And I’ll have more to say later this morning.”

Updated

Queensland government to unveil path to Indigenous treaty

Indigenous people will be able to give evidence about injustices committed against them in Queensland as part of the state’s plans to sign a treaty with the state’s First Nations population, AAP reports.

The premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will announce today that an Indigenous truth-telling and healing inquiry will be set up in response to the treaty advancement committee’s final report.

Palaszczuk says laws will also be passed to set up a First Nations Institute within 18 months to draft a legal framework for treaty negotiations. She said in a statement:

What we do next on the Path to Treaty will define our humanity, our sense of fairness, and the legacy we leave our children,

Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history and be truthful about all of it - good and bad - and build a future together where we value, trust, and respect each other.

A Path to Treaty office will be set up within government to prepare for treaty talks once a legal framework has been drafted.

An independent interim body with Indigenous and non-Indigenous representatives will be appointed to oversee the treaty process until the First Nations Institute is established.

The body will lead local truth-telling initiatives to “promote a shared understanding” of history in institutions such as public libraries, museums, archives and art galleries.

Queensland could become the fourth jurisdiction to sign a treaty with Indigenous peoples. Victoria and the ACT have already done so, while the Northern Territory is in an advanced stage of its own treaty process.

‘Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history’: Annastacia Palaszczuk
‘Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history’: Annastacia Palaszczuk Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated

McKenzie joins calls for explanation over Morrison secret appointments

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, the shadow infrastructure minister, is on Sky News joining her party leader David Littleproud in saying Australians deserve an explanation for Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments.

There needs to be an explanation.

McKenzie said that Australians understand Morrison assuming the health minister’s responsibility, which needed additional oversight during the pandemic. But she says when it comes to the finance and resources portfolios it is not clear what Morrison’s motivation was:

If it’s just for political reasons, it’s a disgrace.

Updated

Morrison defends appointment to health and finance portfolios, saying he didn’t use powers

Circling back to Morrison’s interview on 2GB – he defended not making public his assumption of the health and finance portfolios because he did not use the powers.

We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place … None of these in the case of the finance and the health portfolio ever required – were required to be used – and they were there as a safeguard. They were there as a redundancy because both of the powers, the powers in those portfolios, they weren’t overseen by cabinet. So, the minister himself and, in both cases, had powers that few if any minister in our federation history was having.

He did not explain as explicitly whether he exercised the powers as the resources minister. As we’re reported, Morrison used the extraordinary powers to overrule the resources minister and block the Pep11 gas exploration licence off the coast of NSW.

Updated

Woman arrested for allegedly stabbing her two children in Adelaide

A 35-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing her two children in a car on a motorway in Adelaide late last night.

South Australian Police have released a statement:

Just before 11.30pm on Monday 15 August, police were called to the North South Motorway at Wingfield after a member of the public phoned to advise a woman had been detained.

Police will allege that the woman stopped her car and removed her two young children before stabbing them with a knife.

A member of the public stopped his car on the motorway and intervened, disarming the woman. Soon after he was assisted by other members of the public who restrained the woman until police arrived.

The two young children from Modbury Heights, were taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital by SAAS where they were treated for critical injuries. They remain in hospital in a stable condition.

The woman, a 35-year-old from Modbury Heights, was arrested and taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where she has been detained and will likely be charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Updated

Victorian government to introduce bill in response to Lawyer X inquiry

People who expose the identity of police informants may face 10 years’ jail under a bill to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament in response to the Lawyer X royal commission.

The state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, announced the Human Source Management Bill 2022 will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday to deliver on 25 of the recommendations from the royal commission.

The inquiry was called in 2018 after it emerged that the former defence barrister Nicola Gobbo had been acting as a police informant against her own clients and other high-profile mafia figures.

The bill is the first of its kind in Australia and sets out the process for the registration, use and management of Victoria police informants and establishes an external oversight model to ensure they are used in an ethical and justifiable manner.

Victoria’s attorney general Jaclyn Symes.
Victoria’s attorney general Jaclyn Symes. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Under the reforms, Victoria police will have to apply to a senior officer to register a person as an informant. The senior officer will only approve the registration if it is appropriate and justified.

Protections will be put in place where the risks are greatest – such as when a person has access to privileged information, is under 18 or has a serious physical or mental health condition.

The bill makes it an offence to disclose information that would reveal a person is or was an informant unless the disclosure is for a permitted purpose, with a maximum penalty of two years’ jails.

Melbourne lawyer Nicola Gobbo, who was revealed as Lawyer X.
Melbourne lawyer Nicola Gobbo, who was revealed as Lawyer X. Photograph: AAP Image/Supplied by ABC

It also includes an aggravated offence where a person who discloses the information does so to either endanger the health or safety of any person, or interfere with a criminal investigation or prosecution. The maximum penalty for this offence is 10 years’ jail.

The Public Interest Monitor office will oversee all registrations of high-risk informants and the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission will monitor Victoria Police’s compliance with the scheme.

If passed, 48 of the 55 recommendations to government would have been acted upon since the royal commission handed down its findings last year.

Symes says work is well underway to deliver the remaining recommendations:

Human sources are extremely valuable for police but we need clear laws in place to appropriately manage the inherent risks that go with it for both the person involved and Victoria Police.

These important and nation-leading reforms achieve the appropriate balance between mitigating the risks of using human sources and ensuring Victoria Police can continue to act on information to keep our community safe.

Updated

Morrison also sworn in to social services portfolio – report

Scott Morrison was sworn into a fourth portfolio, with documents revealing more about the former prime minister’s moves to secretly install himself across his government’s ministries, AAP reports.

An administrative arrangements order for the social services portfolio was signed by Morrison and the governor general David Hurley on 28 June 2021, on top of him also being privately sworn in as health minister, finance minister and resources minister.

Updated

‘I think it was the right decision’: Morrison defends taking over resources portfolio

Morrison was asked about his involvement in decisions around the resources portfolio on 2GB earlier this morning.

As my colleagues Sarah Martin and Lisa Cox report:

Morrison’s decision to use extraordinary ministerial powers to block the controversial Pep11 gas exploration licence off the coast of NSW is being challenged in the federal court, with the proponent accusing the former prime minister of “bias” that denied procedural fairness.

Morrison responded on 2GB that the resources portfolio had a “specific set of circumstances”.

He maintains:

I think it was the right decision.

Updated

Morrison apologises to Mathias Cormann, admitting error

Mathias Cormann, the former finance minister, was not aware that Morrison had given himself the powers of the finance minister and only learned about the alleged assumption of powers this week.

On that, Morrsion told 2GB:

That was an error … I’ve apologised to Mathias for that.

I thought matter had been sorted between offices.

Mathias Cormann and Scott Morrison at a press conference back in October 2020.
Mathias Cormann and Scott Morrison at a press conference back in October 2020. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Morrison says ministry appointments were ‘safeguards’ in ‘unprecedented’ times

The former prime minister Scott Morrison is appearing on 2GB after revelations he appointed himself to several ministries in secret while in government.

Morrison says his appointments to three cabinet roles were “safeguards” during “unprecedented” times.

Asked about why he was not upfront about these appointments, Morrison responded:

All ministers know their direct powers are matter between the prime minister and them not the cabinet.

These were not issues that were subject to cabinet.

Former PM Scott Morrison gives a wave.
Former PM Scott Morrison gives a wave. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Updated

Uncertainty whether federal integrity commission could investigate secret appointments

I mentioned in that first post that the Independent MP Helen Haines has been among those raising the alarm regarding Morrison’s secret appointments. Haines along with Nationals leader David Littleproud are both saying Morrison must provide an explanation.

Haines told ABC Breakfast News earlier this morning:

It is the secrecy that is astonishing and we must get an explanation from the former prime minister about his actions.

She said in despite of the “difficult time” during the Covid-19 pandemic, the secrecy is what is concerning:

One could understand how the prime minister may have wished to ensure that there was a safety net, particularly around the role of the health minister. We had no vaccines for Covid at the time.

But the fact that he chose not to tell anyone about this, the fact that his cabinet – many members of his cabinet – didn’t know about this – the prime minister has a responsibility to inform the parliament, the public and to inform his cabinet. It is a most extraordinary and alarming set of circumstances, I believe.

What is clear is that the commonwealth gazette was non updated. Normal precedent wasn’t followed and we have a set of circumstances that just leave us with more questions than answers.

Haines last year presented a bill for a national integrity commission before the House of Representatives and has been spearheading the issue.

The prime minister Anthony Albanese said on ABC Radio earlier this morning that it’s unclear whether or not the revelations surrounding Morrison’s secret appointments could be a matter for a federal integrity commission.

Updated

Government searching for legal papers on Morrison’s ministries

Albanese says he doubted Scott Morrison would have received extra pay for taking on additional secret ministry portfolios, but is still getting further legal advice.

Albanese said the government is still searching for the legal papers that allowed these arrangements to happen. The PM told RN Breakfast he was getting another legal briefing today, and that “this morning I expect to receive more detail on how this occurred”.

ABC Melbourne is also reporting he will appear on that radio station at 8.30am, to answer more questions.

Updated

Albanese attacks Morrison’s response that he doesn’t engage in ‘day-to-day politics’

Albanese claimed the actions of Scott Morrison had “called into question some of those decisions” made by the former government, as he awaits further legal briefings on the implications of Morrison’s secret ministry positions.

Albanese told RN breakfast that he was seeking advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on “a range of issues”, but declined to comment specifically on the Pep11 gas exploration project, which was rejected by the former Coalition government after Morrison reportedly took over that portfolio last year.

Albanese was also critical of Morrison’s response yesterday that he doesn’t engage in “day-to-day politics” and declining to give comment on the reports. Albanese pointed out that Morrison was still a member of parliament, representing his local electorate of Cook.

He said:

The idea the member for Cook says he doesn’t engage in day-to-day politics I find quite extraordinary.

Updated

Government to examine if 'loopholes' need to be closed, Albanese says

Coming back to Anthony Albanese’s interview on ABC Radio.

The prime minister said people in government are searching for documents related to Scott Morrison being secretly sworn in to various ministry portfolios, but said he won’t speculate yet on what implications these unprecedented arrangements may have on legal decisions made by the former government.

Albanese told RN Breakfast he was “shocked” by the revelations and said he was “not going to pre-empt” what his department will tell him in further briefings this morning, but that the new government may examine whether any “loopholes” need to be closed to prevent this happening in future.

At numerous points in the interview, Albanese stopped short of criticising or endorsing the actions of the governor general David Hurley, who yesterday acknowledged that he had sworn Morrison into other portfolios during the Coalition government. Albanese said Hurley had acted on the advice of the former PM.

The governor general’s job is to take the advice of the government of the day. He did that... I don’t intend to pass judgement there.

It’s a matter for him, he acted upon advice ... The questions I have are for the former government.

Updated

Nationals leader says Morrison needs to provide an explanation

Reactions continue to come in after revelations the former prime minister Scott Morrison secretly swore himself in as joint minister for three portfolios.

As the prime minister Anthony Albanese continues to discuss the matter on ABC Radio, the Nationals leader David Littleproud appeared on ABC Breakfast News a little earlier saying Morrison needs to provide an explanation.

It is important that Mr Morrison gives an explanation, so that there’s clarity. There’s understanding. The institution of cabinet is a very important one, and part of the executive government of the democracy that we hold dear. And so it’s important that there is trust within that institution, particularly cabinet. And that’s why I think the best thing that could happen now is Mr Morrison gives an explanation and clarity around the decisions that he made around signing himself into the three portfolios.

When asked whether the former prime minister swore himself in as agriculture minister, Littleproud said: “I can’t tell you that, but I presume not. And I hope not.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud.
Nationals leader David Littleproud. Photograph: Jane Dempster/AAP

Updated

'There may well be more': Albanese on Morrison’s secret ministries

“There may well be more” ministries that Scott Morrison had himself secretly sworn into, prime minister Anthony Albanese says, as he flags further disclosures on the unprecedented arrangements today.

Albanese said he got one legal briefing from his department yesterday, and will get another this morning, after reports Morrison was sworn in as minister for finance, health and resources through the pandemic. “I’ll be having more to say,” he told Radio National this morning.

Asked if there may be other ministries that Morrison was sworn into (as has been alluded to in some media reports), Albanese said: “There may well be more.”

‘I’ll be having more to say’: Anthony Albanese on Scott Morrison’s many ministries
‘I’ll be having more to say’: Anthony Albanese on Scott Morrison’s many ministries Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Albanese not ruling out that Morrison may have appointed himself to other portfolios

Updated

Regional job focus ahead of skills summit

Regional employment will be on the agenda when groups meet for talks ahead of the government’s jobs and skills summit, AAP reports.

The regional affairs minister Catherine King will meet virtually with industries, unions and peak bodies today for the first of four roundtable discussions taking place before the summit.

The jobs and skills summit, set to take place over two days in September, will bring together 100 people from government, unions, businesses and civil society.

The roundtables will go on to inform the key talking points at the summit in Canberra.

Ways skilled workers could be encouraged to move to the regions, along with improving liveability and housing affordability, are set to be among the topics for discussions during the meeting.

King said she aimed to help build more productive workforces, particularly in regional communities where skill shortages exist.

We also want to create even more opportunities for Australians to get ahead and reach their aspirations, while bolstering incomes and living standards.

I’m committed to ensuring voices from right across these sectors are heard and represented to ensure we achieve these outcomes.

Updated

Good morning!

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has ordered for his department to seek legal advice over the former prime minister Scott Morrison’s decision to secretly appoint himself as minister of health, finance and resources at various times in office.

Keith Pitt, the former minister for resources, said he was unaware Morrison had joint oversight of his portfolio but on ABC Radio earlier this morning would only go so far to say it was “unusual”. He wouldn’t be pressed to say more because the matter is now before the court.

My colleagues Sarah Martin and Lisa Cox report:

Scott Morrison’s decision to use extraordinary ministerial powers to block the controversial Pep11 gas exploration licence off the coast of NSW is being challenged in the federal court, with the proponent accusing the former prime minister of “bias” that denied procedural fairness.

Federal court documents obtained by Guardian Australia also suggest that Morrison’s decision to block the permit renewal as the joint decision-maker came despite the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (Nopta) recommending in April 2020 that the exploration project’s licence be extended.

Pitt also accused Albanese of “playing politics” over the investigation into Morrison’s ministerial appointments. Albanese will be appearing on ABC Radio shortly after 7.30 and we will bring you his comments.

The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull called the news sinister and appalling last night on ABC’s 7.30:

I’m astonished that Mr Morrison thought he could do it, astonished that prime minister and cabinet went along with it.

I’m even more astonished that the governor general was party it to. This is sinister stuff.

The Independent MP Helen Haines is also among those voicing their alarm. She said on ABC Breakfast News this morning that Australians “deserve an explanation” over what she says is an “astonishing set of circumstances.”

Let’s jump in!

Updated

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