Former prime minister Scott Morrison has addressed the media, defending his actions after a week of extraordinary revelations about his secret appointments to five ministries during his prime ministership.
Morrison said he believed it was necessary to take on the extra authority so he could act in emergency situations during the pandemic.
“As Prime Minister, only I could really understand the weight of responsibility that was on my shoulders and on no-one else, and as a result I took the decisions that I thought I needed to take,” he said.
Morrison said he was happy to have a conversation about whether he “overstepped the mark”, but insisted that he did not use the powers in the extra portfolios he was sworn in to.
“I believed it was necessary to have authority, to have what were effectively emergency powers, to exercise in extreme situations that would be unforeseen, that would enable me to act in the national interests. And that is what I did in a crisis.”
Between March 2020 and May 2021, Morrison secretly appointed himself to five ministries, including health, finance, resources, treasury, and home affairs.
As to why Morrison did not inform the ministers, the parliament or the public about being installed into the portfolios, he said: “I was concerned that these issues could have been misconstrued and misunderstood and undermine the confidence of ministers in the performance of their duties at that time, and I did not consider that to be in the country’s interest”.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister’s department released documents that outline how and when Morrison was installed into the five ministries without the parliament’s or the public’s knowledge.
Earlier today, current treasurer Jim Chalmers told the media that other members of the previous Morrison government had emboldened his behaviour.
“Now, the Morrison Government is just as guilty as Scott Morrison himself. They have emboldened, they have empowered, they have encouraged this kind of behaviour,” he said.
“The idea that they didn’t know that Scott Morrison had these dictatorial tendencies is absolutely ridiculous and absolutely laughable.”
Chalmers also said it was problematic that new Coalition leader Peter Dutton had not condemned Morrison.
“The primary concern is Scott Morrison’s dictatorial behaviour and the fact that Peter Dutton hasn’t strongly condemned it,” Chalmers said.
“Clearly there are issues. The fact that the secretary of finance, the secretary of Treasury was not aware that the former prime minister had secretly sworn himself into those roles is clearly of concern to us.”