Constitutional law experts say new laws are needed to ensure all ministerial appointments are made public, as focus turns to the governor-general’s assumption that ex-PM Scott Morrison would disclose his co-control of five ministries | LisaVisentin
Governor-General David Hurley says he had no reason to believe the “appointments would not be communicated”.Hurley’s remarks have been interpreted as veiled criticism of Morrison’s decision to keep secret the fact he had been jointly appointed co-minister to the departments of health, finance, home affairs, treasury, and industry, science, energy and resources during 2020 and 2021.
Other constitutional law experts rejected Beck’s interpretation of Hurley’s role but agreed with the need for law changes to ensure transparency over ministerial appointments. UNSW constitutional law expert George Williams agreed that parliament should legislate to require public notification of ministerial changes. Disagreeing with Beck, he said Hurley’s position was perfectly credible, describing the focus on his role as a “red herring” given the governor-general was limited by convention to acting on the advice of the prime minister.
Greg Craven, a former vice-chancellor of the Australian Catholic University, said it was not the job of the governor-general to be “some sort of publication enforcer of the prime minister”.
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