Former prime minister declines to comment as Peter Dutton and other senior ministers say they were ‘not aware’ of appointments
Albanese accused Morrison of running a “shadow government”, and displaying “tinpot” behaviour. Attorney general Mark Dreyfus said Morrison had behaved in a “dictatorial, but worst of all, secretive way”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton, who was defence minister in the Morrison government, told the ABC he was not consulted about the appointments.“I wasn’t consulted, I wasn’t part of the decision making process,” he said.Keith Pitt, the former minister for resources, said the arrangements around Morrison’s allegedly secretive ministerial self-appointments were “unusual” but declined to wade further into the debate.
Greg Hunt, the former health minister, was understood to have discussed plans for Morrison to be appointed health minister in meetings with then attorney generalin early March 2020 as the government developed internal protocols for the application of the Biosecurity Act. While it was not believed to have been signed off by a full meeting of cabinet, sources suggest it had been taken to the National Security Committee of cabinet.
It is understood that Morrison did not use the ministerial powers for the health or finance portfolios.Read more