Former prime minister Scott Morrison has resisted calls to resign from his party after secretly appointing himself to five ministries.
He maintains it was necessary for him to have the additional powers in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, that would have allowed him to act in the national interest.
Between March 2020 and the federal election in May this year, Mr Morrison had been appointed as the joint minister of health, finance, treasury, home affairs and the mega portfolio of industry, science, energy and resources.
Here's what we know about when Mr Morrison was appointed to these roles, and who knew about them.
When did he take on these powers?
Mr Morrison said he first made the appointment in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and took on the health portfolio in March 2020 in case then-health minister Greg Hunt became incapacitated.
Over time, he added finance, home affairs, resources and treasury to the mix of responsibilities — with the majority of ministers responsible unaware at the time they were sharing their roles with the then-prime minister.
Why did he do it?
Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Morrison said people expected him to do whatever was necessary to handle the pandemic, including the secretive ministerial appointments.
"I understand the offence that some of my colleagues particularly have felt about this. I understand that and I have apologised to them," Mr Morrison said.
"But equally, as prime minister, only I could really understand the weight of responsibility that was on my shoulders and on no-one else.
"You are standing on the shore after the fact, I was steering the ship in the middle of the tempest.
"I'd rather have this discussion about what I did do than what I didn't do."
The former prime minister's comments followed a lengthy statement he released on Tuesday.
"The risk of ministers becoming incapacitated, sick, hospitalised, incapable of doing their work at a critical hour or even fatality was very real," the statement said.
"The Home Affairs Minister was struck down with COVID-19 early in the pandemic and the UK Prime Minister was on a ventilator and facing the very real prospect of dying of COVID-19.
"As prime minister I 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."
Who knew about the secret ministries?
There are only a handful of people who have openly said they were aware of Mr Morrison's secret portfolio appointments at the time they occurred.
Although Mr Morrison was the joint minister for five ministries, there are often several ministers with different portfolios in the same ministry. In some cases, the minister responsible had changed.
So, who knew about the secret ministry appointments, and what have they had to say?
Aware: Governor-General
On Monday, Governor-General David Hurley confirmed he had signed off on Mr Morrison's appointments to the known three ministries at the time of health, finance and resources.
In a statement, he said signing the instruments to allow Mr Morrison to administer other portfolios was "consistent with section 64 of the constitution".
He also said it was not uncommon for ministers to be appointed to "administer other departments other than their portfolio responsibility", and Mr Morrison did not need to go through a formal swearing-in ceremony.
Speaking on Wednesday, the Governor-General said he acted in line with his responsibilities.
"I'm content at the moment to allow the processes the Prime Minister has put in place to run through until next week," he said.
"In the meantime I'll continue to do my job as I have done it in the past."
Aware: Health Minister
The ABC understands former health minister Greg Hunt agreed to the joint position of health minister with Mr Morrison, should he become incapacitated by COVID-19.
At the time, Mr Hunt had been granted significant powers in the wake of the pandemic, including those that allowed him to effectively close Australia's borders.
The health portfolio was the first Mr Morrison was jointly appointed to, on March 14, 2020.
Not aware: Home Affairs Minister
Former home affairs minister Karen Andrews said she was not made aware of Mr Morrison taking on the portfolio.
"I had absolutely no knowledge and was not told by the [prime minister, the prime minister's office] nor the department secretary. This undermines the integrity of the government," she said.
Ms Andrews was appointed to the home affairs portfolio on March 30, 2021 when former minister Peter Dutton was appointed as defence minister.
Home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo was also not informed of the appointments, nor was ASIO's director-general Mike Burgess.
Aware: Resources Minister
Keith Pitt told ABC Radio National on Monday that he made inquiries after Mr Morrison told him about the joint appointment, but accepted the move.
"I certainly found it unusual, but as I said I worked very closely with Scott through a very difficult period through COVID," Mr Pitt said.
The ABC has confirmed that Mr Pitt was told of the joint appointment sometime in 2021 in a meeting with Mr Morrison, then-deputy prime minister Michael McCormack and senior members of their offices.
Mr Morrison used his self-appointment to the resources portfolio to block a controversial petroleum exploration licence in December 2021.
Unclear: Treasurer
It's not known whether former treasurer and deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg was aware of Mr Morrison's joint appointment to the role in May 2021.
The ABC understands Mr Morrison called Mr Frydenberg on Tuesday afternoon to apologise for swearing himself into the treasury portfolio last year.
Unclear: Industry Minister
Christian Porter was appointed as industry and science minister by Scott Morrison in a cabinet reshuffle in March 2021.
It's not known whether he was aware he shared his portfolios with Mr Morrison, who appointed himself to the roles less than three weeks later.
Mr Porter resigned from the Morrison ministry in September 2021, with Angus Taylor taking on his portfolio responsibilities.
Unclear: Industry and Energy Minister
Former industry and energy minister Angus Taylor has not commented on whether he knew about Mr Morrison's appointment to the Industry, Science and Resources Ministry, which encompassed his portfolio.
Unclear: Science Minister
Former industry minister Melissa Price has not commented on whether she knew about Mr Morrison's appointment to the Industry, Science and Resources Ministry, which encompassed her portfolio.
Not aware: Finance Minister
The ABC understands former finance minister Mathias Cormann was not told Mr Morrison had appointed himself joint finance minister.
Mr Morrison has since apologised to Mr Cormann, who is now the Secretary-General for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), saying it was an oversight that he did not discuss the decision with him.
Unclear: Finance Minister
Simon Birmingham, who replaced Mathias Cormann as finance minister after he resigned from parliament, said he was not aware he was sharing a portfolio with Mr Morrison.
Senator Birmingham told ABC Radio Adelaide on Tuesday he recalled there being a "discussion" around Mr Morrison becoming the joint health minister, but nothing about him in the finance portfolio.
"I don't recall something specific to finance at the time, but there were similar decisions being made around finance," he said.
When asked to clarify whether their time in the role overlapped, he said: "I'm not 100 per cent on that, to be clear."
Not aware: Opposition leader
Now opposition leader, Peter Dutton said he was not aware of Mr Morrison's decision to secretly give himself power to jointly hold the five ministries.
"I wasn't part of that decision-making process and they're decisions that are within the domain of the prime minister," Mr Dutton said on Monday.
"I know as much as you do and I read about it in the paper."
Mr Dutton had been sworn in as Minister for Defence on March 30, 2021, meaning he was not home affairs minister at the time of Mr Morrison's joint self-appointment.
Not aware: Nationals leader
The now-leader of the Nationals and former agriculture minister told ABC Radio on Monday he was unaware of Mr Morrison's self-appointments.
"That's pretty ordinary, as far as I'm concerned," Mr Littleproud said on Monday.
"If you have a cabinet government, you trust your cabinet."
On Wednesday, Mr Littleproud said he did not support calls for Mr Morrison to resign.
Not aware: Former Nationals Leader
Former Nationals leader and deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said he was aware of Mr Morrison sharing a portfolio with resources minister Keith Pitt, but not the other self-appointed ministries.
He told ABC Radio National that he said Mr Morrison hadn't done anything illegal, but it likely "wasn't a good move".
"I don't agree with the PM taking on roles here, there and everywhere," he said.
"Mr Morrison has apologised for this, so I think he himself in reflecting on it, has come to the opinion that it probably wasn't a good move, and I agree with him."
Mr Joyce also said Mr Morrison should not have gotten involved with the decision about the PEP-11 gas exploration licence off the NSW Central Coast, saying it was a decision reserved for the then-resources minister Keith Pitt.
"I think the minister is the person who should have carriage of these issues because they have a more acute knowledge of all the particular details and it should have been up to Keith Pitt," he said.
What happens now?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he will receive advice on any potential legal implications from the secret ministries from the solicitor-general on Monday.
He said Mr Morrison needed to explain what advice he received from the solicitor-general before he made those decisions.
"We know that he made a request of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Prime Minister and Cabinet Department provided a brief for him to sign," Mr Albanese said.
"He then signed off on a letter to the Governor-General, and the Governor-General made the appointments upon the recommendation of the government of the day."
Mr Morrison has faced calls to resign, including by former home affairs minister Karen Andrews, whose role he took without her knowledge.
Mr Morrison has rejected those calls, but hasn't decided whether he will recontest the next election.
"I'll continue to serve [my constituents] as the member for Cook and I'll make a decision at the appropriate time as to whether I'll contest the next election," he said.
