Former resources minister Keith Pitt told Q+A that former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack knew then prime minister Scott Morrison had sworn himself into the resources portfolio at some point in 2021.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that Mr Morrison had secretly sworn himself into five separate ministerial roles during his term as prime minister.
Mr Morrison had said he did so due to the extraordinary circumstances raised during the COVID pandemic.
Under heavy questioning from Q+A host Stan Grant, Mr Pitt, the Member for Hinkler, attempted to deflect questions about Mr Morrison's actions, before he confirmed that Mr McCormack knew about the appointment in 2021.
"Somewhere in 2021," Mr Pitt said when asked when he knew of Mr Morrison's actions.
"I had a discussion with Michael McCormack as leader of the Nationals, as you would expect I would," Mr Pitt said.
Grant sought to clarify, as Mr Pitt was also speaking about Mr Morrison blocking the PEP-11 gas permit.
"I'm trying to get some clarity around this, because so much of the questioning has been around secrecy, you told Michael McCormack, 'Scott Morrison has sworn himself into my portfolio?'" Grant asked.
"If I recall correctly, I think Michael may well have been at one of those meetings," Mr Pitt affirmed.
Grant continued: "You told Michael McCormack, 'hey, Scott Morrison has now sworn himself in to my portfolio as effectively co-minister', you told Michael McCormack, the leader of your party, then-Deputy Prime Minister, that explicitly?"
"It may have occurred in a meeting that Michael was at with all of us, including the PM and his representatives, or it may have been a separate discussion. I'm working my way through what is a very complex diary," Mr Pitt responded.
"We had a discussion, Michael was aware, but my recollection was that he may well have been in the room when we had a previous discussion with the PM."
Mr McCormack was leader of the National Party until late June 2021, when he was ousted by Barnaby Joyce.
Asked whether he was bothered by the actions of Mr Morrison, Mr Pitt said it did not matter what he thought when it came to him being overruled by the PM on the PEP-11 permit.
"He issued a statement in February where he stated that he had made a decision under the Offshore Patrol and Gas Act, and that was pretty public," Mr Pitt said.
"Whether I'm uncomfortable, unhappy, it doesn't really matter. That doesn't affect the operation of the government and how decisions are made."
More calls for Morrison to resign
The revelation from Mr Pitt led to Minister for Emergency Management and Agriculture, Murray Watt, calling for Mr Morrison, the Member for Cook, to resign from parliament.
Mr Morrison has said he would not step down.
"Ultimately it is a matter for the Liberal Party but my personal belief is that he should go," Senator Watt said.
"There's someone else on this panel here tonight (Mr Pitt) who was in on this as well, and knew about it.
"This is an extraordinary revelation tonight on the show that the deputy prime minister of the country was in on this as well.
"I don't know whether there were other members of the National Party who knew about it."
Senator Watt then called for the Coalition agreement to be scrapped as he suggested Mr Pitt and Mr McCormack had done a disservice to the National Party.
"We've got a secret agreement between the Liberals and the Nationals that is now breached by a secret appointment of a prime minister that the deputy prime minister knows about," he said.
"I don't know how Keith and Michael McCormack justified that to their National Party colleagues, that they've reneged on an agreement that's supposed to be giving them, as a party and therefore country people, more of a say."
Former NSW Liberal Catherine Cusack said the actions committed are what caused her to leave politics.
"This is the sort of behaviour that has basically made me feel forced out of politics, because it is not the behaviour of normal people," Ms Cusack said.
While others condemned the behaviour of Mr Morrison, Mr Pitt stood by the former prime minister and refused to call for him to stand down, as his Coalition colleague Karen Andrews had.
"He is elected by the people of Cook as I am by the people of Hinkler," Mr Pitt said.
"This is how our constitution works and how you are elected to the parliament. It is entirely a decision for Scott and the people he represents."
Nonetheless, Mr Pitt did throw his support behind an inquiry into the actions of the government during the pandemic, as long as it also extended to states.
"There has been talk about a royal commission and an investigation and an inquiry and I'm quite supportive of that, as long as it includes all levels of government," he said.
"There were some strange decisions at a state level as well — whether that's Premier Palaszczuk stopping people from accessing hospital because they were on the wrong side of the line — or mass lockdowns in Victoria."
Pump pain to continue
While much Q+A focussed on the actions of the former government, cost of living issues such as the cost of petrol were also discussed.
Senator Watt only had bad news on that front as he confirmed the fuel excise cut would end.
Audience member Helen Waisel, from western Sydney, asked if it would be extended by perhaps six or 12 months, but Senator Watt said that could not happen.
"I know that transport costs are a huge impact on people in western Sydney," Senator Watt said.
"We haven't made a formal decision about that yet but we've signalled at this time clearly we think it is unlikely that we are going to be able to extend that fuel excise reduction beyond September."
Asked if that was a 'no' to an extension Senator Watt said it was.
"Yes, that is a no, because of the sheer cost," he said.
"You heard us say we've inherited $1 trillion in debt and people want to make sure we get the budget under control and to continue extending that excise reduction is about $3 billion six months each and every year and you are paying interest on those borrowings so we have to make hard decisions about where we fund things."
