He was the minister for lies, secrecy and everything else

He was the minister for lies, secrecy and everything else

But only effective as the Minister for Lies.
lies from The Minister for Everything

Was Scott Morrison also the Minister for Women during his time leading the Coalition during the last government?

It is as unlikely as it is likely, given what we’ve been learning over the past two days.  

Because despite believing he was merely (merely?) the Prime Minister during his term – one that wasn’t effective, had a tendency to disappear during significant national emergencies and was regularly challenged by the truth – we now know that he was actually a lot more.

He was the Minister for Health, secretly being sworn in by the Governor General, with the knowledge of the man we thought was the sole Minister for Health Greg Hunt. All thanks to the help of former Attorney-General Christian Porter, as well as Governor General David Hurley.

Morrison was also the Minister for Finance, and the Minister for Agriculture, for a period. But so secret was the swearing-in process, and the acquisition of such power, that the men in those portfolios didn’t know it at the time.

And despite telling breakfast radio earlier this morning that “to his knowledge” he wasn’t appointed to even more portfolios during his time in office, the current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has shared doubts over those claims also. Following advice from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Albanese shared that Morrison was actually appointed to five additional portfolios, in addition to his role as prime minister. In addition to the three of Health, Finance and Agriculture, Morrison was also appointed to Home Affairs and Treasury on the 6th May 2021.

What is clear is that the former Prime Minister has made an absolute mockery of our democratic system of government.

What is not so clear is why he did it, which makes it more concerning.

Australians may have understood why, at the beginning of the pandemic, a Prime Minister may take on secondary health responsibilities, given the unprecedented nature of the emergency and extraordinary powers that were enacted during that period.

But it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t know about it, or why secrecy was necessary.

And it’s even harder to understand why that lack of transparency would extend to other portfolios, particularly where the serving minister doesn’t even know their power is diluted.   

It’s also hard to understand why, when given the opportunity to share what other portfolios he held during his time just this morning, he continued to be opaque with the truth.

This morning, Morrison tried to justify why he took on the portfolios, noting the “extraordinary measures” that were required at the peak of the pandemic.

But he couldn’t explain the lack of transparency in informing every other cabinet member, other than suggesting it was an “oversight”.

“There are none others that I’m aware of, but there may have been others that we’ve done administratively for the same reason, for the same precaution.”

Unfortunately for Morrison, the lies have crossed too many lines. We don’t know what to believe if we are to believe anything at all.

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