Former prime minister John Howard has weighed in on the evolving political saga erupting out of Canberra as he urges Scott Morrison to explain his secret Cabinet appointments.
Mr Howard did however urge his fellow former prime minister to explain the reasons for secretly taking on five additional portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.
“And I think it’s very important that people who are reacting to the news, like Mr Albanese, should understand that it is in the past. Mr Morrison reportedly installed himself as health and finance minister in the early stages of the pandemic as a precaution in the context of the emerging pandemic. Mr Howard was hesitant, however, to involve himself in the ongoing Liberal Party politics but echoed Mr Morrison’s apology to his colleagues.“Are they angry? Are they entitled to be angry? Well, that’s a matter for them. I wasn’t there.”
Mr Morrison did accept the decision to take control of treasury and home affairs was “unnecessary” and said he would have publicly disclosed his authority had he needed to trigger powers in those portfolios.
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