London: Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison’s secret decision to swear himself into five ministries and concealing it from the majority of those ministers was unusual, unorthodox and strange.
But Abbott said he was reluctant to condemn Morrison’s conduct, saying a lot of extraordinary things were done through the pandemic as part of the national response.
Former prime minister Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison’s actions were unusual.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Speaking in London on Tuesday night Australian time, Abbott also backed Governor-General David Hurley who swore Morrison into five portfolios during the pandemic without notifying the public.
“The pandemic was a completely unprecedented situation and a whole lot of things that normally would never have been done were done and without knowing a lot more than I have currently read in the papers, I would be reluctant to condemn what seems to have happened,” Abbott said during a question and answer session after giving a speech on foreign policy to the think tank Henry Jackson Society.
“But certainly it does seem unusual, it does seem unorthodox and it does seem strange that at least some of the ministers didn’t know about it.
“As for the governor-general I have every confidence that he would have acted not just on the basis of the political advice of the prime minister but that he would have got legal advice that what was happening was appropriate, legally appropriate, whatever of you might think of the politics of it,” Abbott said.
But Philip Benwell, National Chair of the Australian Monarchist League, said the role of the governer-general in the political furore was concerning that Hurley should have refused to swear in Morrison unless the acts were made public.
“The fact the swearing-in was carried out on a totally secret basis is deplorable … at the very least the inner cabinet and federal executive council should have been notified,” Benwell said in an email.
“This is something the governor-general should have insisted upon or otherwise refused to swear in Mr Morrison to the portfolios.
“Every official appointment, law, regulation or anything else that may affect good governance must never be kept secret and the governor-general should never have allowed himself to be persuaded to do otherwise,” he said.
Labor MP Julian Hill and chair of parliament’s Public Accounts and Audit Committee has also called into question Hurley’s position.
“While I like and respect the man, I’m struggling to see how the governor-general’s position remains tenable,” Hill told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Morrison is being urged to quit parliament following the revelations including by one of the cabinet ministers whose position he was secretly sworn in to, Karen Andrews who is now the opposition’s home affairs spokeswoman.
Andrews and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg only learned that Morrison had been sworn into five ministries, including their own, from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s news conference on Tuesday. Former finance minister Mathias Cormann was also unaware that Morrison had been sworn into his portfolio.
Malcolm Turnbull said Morrison’s actions were undemocratic but John Howard refused to criticise Morrison.
Morrison apologised to his colleagues in a statement issued on his Facebook page. He earlier told 2GB radio that he could not recall being sworn into more than three portfolios. The total was later revealed to be five.
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