Opinion: Why another Morrison inquiry? If it’s to humiliate Labor’s enemies, it would be political brutalism | Waleed Aly
One of the odd things about the Scott Morrison secret ministries saga is that it’s a point of overwhelming agreement. Everyone agrees Morrison did the wrong thing by his own colleagues, by the parliament, by the Australian people, and by Australian democracy. The points of disagreement are instead matters of emphasis. For how long should it preoccupy us? What is the end point of this episode? And so on.into the matter. Or more precisely, it announced an intention to announce an inquiry.
So, what exactly is the point of the inquiry? Albanese makes the point that the solicitor-general’s advice is based only on known facts, and that an inquiry might unearth more facts. But what facts could possibly change the solicitor-general’s advice? The only thing Donaghue acknowledges he doesn’t know is whether Morrison specifically ordered his ministerial appointments to remain secret.
Which leaves us really with political questions of the kind Albanese raised when asked this week what the inquiry had left to teach us. Who knew what and when? What bits were rotten in the machinery of government that allowed this to happen? But even here, the likely answers are clear enough.
I’m prepared to think better of the Albanese government than that. But the problem is there are few political consequences more severe than being kicked ignominiously out of office, and that has already happened. Marles may want to see Morrison leave the parliament – as do one or two of Morrison’s own party colleagues. But no one has the power to make that happen because that would be undemocratic. He’s a duly elected member. Absent being convicted of a crime, only the people can remove him.
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