Morrison, who resigned as leader of the Liberal Party after losing the general election in May, has come under fire from senior members of his party and his coalition partner, the National Party, who were unaware of the arrangements. Following a review of the matter by the Prime Minister’s department, Albanese told reporters that Morrison had taken over the portfolios of health and finance in March 2020, home affairs and the treasury in May 2021 and resources in April 2021. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “It is completely extraordinary that these appointments have been kept secret by the Morrison government from the Australian people,” he said. Albanese will take legal advice on the matter from the solicitor general on Monday and said he is criticizing the Morrison government for allowing the prime minister to concentrate power. Former home secretary in the Morrison government, Karen Andrews, said she was unaware Morrison also had the role and called on Morrison to resign from parliament. “You can’t govern under a veil of secrecy,” Andrews, a Liberal MP, told ABC radio after Albanese’s news conference. Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who left politics after losing his seat in May’s election, was also unaware that Morrison had responsibility for the fund, The Australian newspaper reported. Liberal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said legal advice from the solicitor-general was needed before decisions were made on next steps. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends the third leaders’ debate at Seven Network Studios during the 2022 federal election campaign in Sydney, Australia, May 11, 2022. Mick Tsikas/Poole via REUTERS read more In a lengthy statement, Morrison, who remains a Liberal supporter, said he was sorry his actions had caused concern but he “acted in good faith in a crisis”. Morrison defended taking on additional ministerial roles without the knowledge of his cabinet during the COVID-19 pandemic, saying it was “an unprecedented time” and the powers served as a safeguard. “I used such powers only once. I did not seek to interfere with ministers in their portfolio management,” he said in the statement. He added that “in retrospect these arrangements were unnecessary”. Morrison said in a radio interview earlier on Tuesday that he did not make the arrangements public because they were only a safeguard and it was an “oversight” that ministers were not told their roles were dual. “We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place,” he told radio station 2GB, likening it to two keys on a nuclear submarine. The role of resources minister he took up in 2021 was different, he said, because he had used the power to stop approval for a gas exploration project off Australia’s coast that was opposed by local communities. The decision is appealed in court. “I believe I made the right decision in the national interest. This was the only matter I was directly involved with in this or any other Department,” he said in the statement. Albanese said it was worrying that two people had responsibility for the resources portfolio and had different positions on issues. Not tabling to parliament who was responsible for ministerial portfolios was “a very clear breach of the obligations the prime minister has to parliament”, he told ABC radio earlier on Tuesday. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Kirsty Needham. Edited by Sam Holmes & Simon Cameron-Moore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
