There are many unanswered questions here … 
He has a document signed by the GG saying so, he’d just need to show that at the time I’d guess.
Retired High Court judge is to conduct an inquiry.
I have a basic knowledge of Australian politics. I feel Canada and Australia have a lot of similarities*, and sometimes wish our politicians showed the gumption of their Aussie counterparts.
But not always. How big a deal is the “secret co-minister” thing, barely mentioned in the world press? Is it anything? A constitutional crisis? A shoulder shrug?
*Aussies I met during the three times I travelled there (Big Day Out!) had different opinions on whether Canada was similar. Both countries are big, rural, like beer and barbecue, have lots of natural resources, colonial legacies, similar constitutions, mostly decent somewhat athletic people, are about 35-40m strong, have money of similar value, etc. There may be limited truth to stereotypes Aussies are more outgoing and travelled but less diplomatic. We have better meat pies but fewer TimTams.
Source:
More concisely… (short excerpt from above link)
“I’ve sometimes observed in the past that the Canadian press does not follow political affairs in Canada’s sister Dominions as closely as we ought. But I don’t think I have ever felt this as strongly as I do now — thanks to this month’s controversy in Australia over incredible constitutional shenanigans perpetrated by Scott Morrison, the country’s Liberal prime minister from 2018 until May of this year. A couple of weeks ago, it was revealed that PM Morrison had, on a series of occasions between March 2020 and May 2021, asked the governor general to appoint him co-minister for several portfolios, including health, finance, and resources.
What’s extraordinary about this is that the appointments were carried out in secret and never gazetted; even the person who was pretty sure he was Australia’s (only) finance minister throughout the period, Mathias Cormann, was never told. Morrison says he had a need to centralize power during the COVID-19 pandemic, but he did use his position as secret co-minister of resources to thwart a controversial offshore oil project…”
Essentially having a secret panel of ministers legally appointed with power but unknown to the public.
Indeed, this was ignored by most Canadian media. There was an article in the Economist.
Another TL;DR (from The Economist)
“Morrison and his attorney-general, Christian Porter, reasoned that creating a second minister of health would be a safeguard. It might prove useful if someone fell ill, they thought. Mr Hunt welcomed the idea, and the prime minister was secretly sworn in with a signature from the governor-general.
Soon after, Mr Morrison made himself co-minister of finance, giving him power over emergency spending. He continued to pile up portfolios as fears about the pandemic faded, installing himself as joint home affairs minister and treasurer in May 2021. None of the incumbents in these jobs was told that they were job-sharing.
He also took on powers unrelated to covid, making himself minister of resources. In that portfolio, unlike the others, he wielded his new authority. As the federal election loomed, he overruled the resources minister, Keith Pitt, to cancel an unpopular permit for gas exploration off the coast of New South Wales. (Climate change was a [big issue]…)
Even his detractors are shocked that he would so “undermine the integrity of government”…
I don’t quite understand how this would work. Being secretly sworn in is one thing, but as soon as he took some action that over-ruled the original minister, doesn’t that let the cat out of the bag? I don’t understand how it was still secret after that. (Obviously I have no clue about Australian government operations nor how Ministers do their jobs.)
Already a thread on it:
Except no government official ever exercises power directly. That’s not how government works. If he authorizes a new oil pipeline, he’s not going to be the one who’s out in the Outback welding sections of pipe together. He’s going to tell someone to tell someone else to tell someone else to do that. And when he tells those someones and those someone elses, it won’t be a secret any more.
Sorry, missed the fact there was a current thread.
The whole episode is a little odd. Unless you understand that the PM has access to cloning technology and his close supporters need jobs.
If he was planning on keeping this secret, what was he planning to do in the event of a crisis? “Don’t worry nation! I have secretly appointed myself Governor General! He agrees there is nothing to see here.”
The Canadian PM already has some power to whip independent ministers. Backbenchers have even less power. Wouldn’t need to do it. Not sure what it changes. Yet IIRC Trudeau appointed himself both PM and created a minister of youth - himself. This was novel, but certainly public. I don’t know how it affects pay (I have vague memories that the effect was small or nothing), and people have different views about what government knew about some charity funding concerns or if there is any nexus.
Doing this secretly, though, shows an astonishing excess of zealous impudence even if the practical difference was small - which is unclear.
Before politics Morrison’s previous role was as head of Australian Tourism, and was responsible for the appalling and bizarre “Where the bloody hell are you?” ads that went out to the world.
The Tourism Minister at the time fired him because he behaved even then like he was the only competent one in the organisation, that he needed to do and be in change of everything.
Leopard, spots, yatta yatta yatta.
…Scott Morrison also worked at the New Zealand Office of Tourism and Sport, and surprise surprise! He assumed authority that he had no right to take, and was responsible for a scandal that cost tax-payers money. The original article is long-gone, but a screenshot captures the essence of what he did.
Hold on, just found some additional context:
This is just what Morrison does.
Put me down as a dense American who doesn’t really understand what’s going on here. Can anybody explain it like I’m five? What did Morrison hope to accomplish by this maneuver that he couldn’t achieve through his office as Prime Minister? What was the point of doing this secretly?
…if you take him at his word:
I’m imagining that in his head, “he thought he needed the powers just-in-case-something happened. And he didn’t tell anyone because if-nothing-actually-happened, why would anyone need to know? No need for a fuss. In fact…why is everyone so bothered about it now?”
Don’t expect any of it to make sense. People like Morrison and Boris Johnson and Trump with authoritarian leanings tend to say and do things quite often that don’t make any sense. Morrison has been doing it all his life. As my last post showed, he was overstepping his remit (in other countries! The government had to pay out just under a million dollars in compensation!) over 20 years ago. It’s just part of a pattern of behaviour.
To bring out our traditional “what if the Queen did …” comment, is this a case where the Queen should exert her power and replace the Governor General? This seems like a clear case where the GG should’ve refused the Prime Minister’s advice, resigned the post, and gone public with why. Given that the GG dishonored the position by not doing any of the above and given that the PM is obviously dishonorable in appointing himself, it seems like a justifiable use of the Queen’s prerogative.
(Please correct American errors in the above.)
No, not at all. The PM of Australia is handling the matter through the normal political processes, including the appointment of a retired High Court judge to review what happened.
Nor is there any indication of wrong-doing by the GovGen, who acted on the advice of the PM at the time. And, under the principles of responsible government, former PM Morrison is taking full responsibility for his advice to the Gov Gen in this issue, and is explaining to the public why he thought it was necessary.
Now it’s up to Parliament, and ultimately the people, to determine what steps, if any, are needed to respond to this unusual situation. For instance, PM Abale may decide to introduce legislation to deal with the matter to prevent it from happening in the future.
The only reason the Queen should get involved is if PM Abale recommends that she sack the GovGen. That would be a highly political matter, for the elected representatives to determine, not the Queen on her own bat.
Had he limited his ambitions to Health, one might more easily justify that in the context of Covid. Of course the people and Parliament must decide how much this matters and how to proceed. Secretly breaking tradition through legal means is more about appearances than mere wrongdoing.
Well the judicial report is in:
The next stage seems likely for the Albanese government to move a censure motion by parliament over Morrison’s multiple secret ministries
The wheels turn slowly, but they do turn.
They turn slowly, because it’s not a crisis. Morrison is out. PM Abale has the matter in hand, and it will next likely come up in Parliament, either on censure, or a bill to regulate such appointments, or both. Parliament has the benefit of a report from a retired High Court judge.