Moving the motion against the country's former prime minister, house leader Tony Burke said Morrison (pictured) fell short of the standards expected of a member of parliament. Photo: AFP
By Jake Evans
The Australian government has moved to censure former prime minister Scott Morrison in the lower house over his self-appointment to five portfolios during the height of the global pandemic, which he kept secret from the public and many of his own cabinet colleagues.
That censure motion will pass because the government has a majority in the house, although the opposition intends to oppose the motion, saying Morrison has already been rebuked for the power grab and that the censure is a stunt.
The motion notes Morrison's appointments, that he did not notify cabinet, relevant departments, the House of Representatives nor the public, that (his actions) "fundamentally undermined" the principles of responsible government and that the former prime minister's move was "corrosive of trust in government".
It censures the Member for Cook for "failing to disclose his appointments to the House of Representatives, the Australian people and the cabinet, which undermined responsible government and eroded public trust in Australia's democracy".
The censure motion is the most-serious statement of disapproval a parliament can make, although it is symbolic and triggers no consequence for Morrison as a backbencher.
Moving the motion, house leader Tony Burke said Morrison fell short of the standards expected of a member of parliament.
"Today is not how any of us wanted to make history," Burke said, "but a censure, while rare, has its place."
"The concept that the parliament knows who has which job is essential to responsible government. You cannot have responsible government if you do not know what people are responsible for, and for two years we did not know. For two years, the ministers themselves did not know."
Morrison refuses to 'submit to political intimidation'
Defending himself against the censure motion, Morrison said he was proud of his achievements and his government.
"My government stood up and faced the abyss of uncertainty that our country looked into," Morrison said.
"I have no intention now of submitting to the political intimidation of this government, using its numbers in this place to impose its retribution on a political opponent."
Morrison maintained he assumed the secret powers as a "dormant" emergency measure in response to Covid-19, although that reasoning was challenged by former High Court justice Virginia Bell in her inquiry into the matter.
The former prime minister said he only used the powers in one instance, to overrule a minister in order to block a petroleum exploration licence, a decision unrelated to Covid-19.
"I was present, each and every day at that dispatch box to answer any and all questions," Morrison said.
He admitted that, "in hindsight", the powers were not necessary, and that he gave "insufficient consideration" to appointing himself to the roles, and deciding not to disclose it.
Morrison chastised the government for moving a censure motion, saying "grace in victory is a virtue", but that he would take instruction from his faith and turn the other cheek.
After he spoke, several Liberal and National MPs approached Morrison to hug him and shake his hand.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said Morrison evidently was still unapologetic.
"He's not sorry, he never will be," Dreyfus said.
"If the members of this house have any respect at all for this parliament, then you must support this censure."
Manager of opposition business in the house Paul Fletcher said the censure motion was not appropriate and made no practical difference.
"What the government is doing here is at odds with the traditions and practices of this house, it is nothing more than a political exercise designed to damage the standing of the former prime minister."
Fletcher said commentary about Morrison's self-appointments had been "exaggerated".
In the past, the only sitting prime minister to have been censured was the then newly-appointed prime minister Malcolm Fraser, in 1975, following his role in the dismissal of his predecessor, Gough Whitlam.
- ABC