Former Australian Prime Minister, Liberal Scott Morrisonsecretly assumed five ministerial posts during the pandemic of the coronavirus without informing the ministers who held those portfoliosa revelation that has caused a political storm in Australia.
According to information that appeared in a book and that this Tuesday has confirmed the current prime minister, Labor Anthony AlbaneseMorrison named himself Minister of Health, Finance, Industry, Science and Energy and Resources, Interior and Treasury without announcing it to the public or to the ministers of those branches themselves, who for months they shared the wallet with him unknowingly.
Albanese, Morrison’s successor in office, described these acts at a press conference in Canberra as a “unprecedented” damage against democracy of his country and has accused Morrison of being the “world’s first silent steamroller” for “operating in secret and concealing government operations from the Australian people themselves”.
“I think Scott Morrison has to resign, and he has to leave Parliament”has said Karen Andrewswho was unaware that Morrison shared his wallet when he served as Australian Home Secretaryaccording to the public chain ABC.
The news has come to light this week during the promotion of a book on Morrison’s management during the pandemic in which it is revealed that in March 2020, at the beginning of the first wave of infections, the president self-appointed Minister of Health and Finance.
A year later he also assumed the portfolio of Industry, Science, Energy and Resourcesand in May 2021 added the last two: Interior and Treasure.
a single witness
The maneuver was made possible by the participation of the Governor General of Australiathe figure that represents the British crown in Australia (the head of state is Queen Elizabeth II), David Hurleywho acceded to Morrison’s requests to be sworn in before him no light or stenographers.
Morrison, who is currently a deputy for the Liberal Party, He has justified his actions as “extraordinary measures” to respond to the covid-19 pandemic and in the face of an eventual “sudden disability of its ministers”, as published today on Facebook.
In the Australian system, ministers have the highest authority in his departmentabove the prime minister, which explains Morrison’s maneuver, who has also admitted that the decision to assume the Ministry of Resources was not linked to the pandemic but to its opposition to a gas project off the Australian East Coast.
“I did not try to interfere with the ministers in the performance of their portfolio, since there were no circumstances that justified its use, except in the case of the Ministry of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources”, he specified when referring to his I veto that project.
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“If the then prime minister really believed that he needed these extra powers to protect himself in the event of illness of one of his ministers, why didn’t he tell the ministers themselves? Why was public opinion not informed? Why was a quiet plan drawn up outside parliamentary scrutiny?” the journalist asked Patricia Carvelas in an article on ABC.
It is expected that the australian attorney general analyze Morrison’s use of extraordinary powers and deliver a report to Albanese on August 22nd.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.