Scott Morrison had designated himself in secret, from March 2020, to five posts of minister, including those of health, finance and resources.
Le Monde
The former Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, assumed, Wednesday, August 17, having secretly granted five ministerial portfolios – including those of health, finance and resources – at the very beginning of the pandemic, to from March 2020.
During a long and agitated press conference, Mr. Morrison rejected calls to his resignation from Parliament. He faced an avalanche of questions about the reasons why he did not inform the public – or even number of his colleagues ministers – that he gave himself additional powers.
“We had to take extraordinary measures to set up safeguards,” he justified, explaining in a confused manner to have assured the continuity of the government in case a minister is unavailable. Mr. Morrison said that he had used this powers only once, to go beyond his Minister of Resources and block a controversial project for the gas exploitation at sea. While specifying that this decision was unrelated to the COVVI-19 . “I am very happy with this decision,” he said.
need stronger democratic safeguards
The former Conservative Prime Minister added that he had drawn “no personal advantage” of having named himself to these various ministerial posts.
“We sometimes forget what was going on two years ago and the situation we faced was an unprecedented period,” also argued Mr. Morrison on Tuesday during an interview with the Australian radio 2GB.
The conservative coalition of Mr. Morrison lost the elections in May, after almost a decade of center -right government.
Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused his predecessor of an “unprecedented rampage” of democracy. “It is completely extraordinary that these appointments were kept secret,” he said. Mr. Albanese asked the advice of the Attorney General to assess the legality of Mr. Morrison’s actions, whom he accused of having directed “a ghost government”.
The scandal cast the light on the opaque nature of decision-making in the Australian government and has aroused questions about the need for stronger democratic safeguards.
In Australia, the Prime Minister chooses the members of his government among elected officials who are then sworn in by the Governor General during an official ceremony.