THE SQUIZ

Former PM Scott Morrison will face a rare censure motion in Parliament today over his decision to secretly appoint himself to 5 government ministries during the COVID pandemic. Yesterday, the Coalition said it won’t support the motion and leader Peter Dutton labelled it “a stunt”. But that won’t stop it from being passed when it’s raised in the House of Representatives, where the Labor government has a majority. The censure motion is expected to be moved by Leader of the House Tony Burke. PM Anthony Albanese says legislation will also be introduced this week to ensure similar secret appointments “can never, ever happen again”. 

HOW DID IT COME TO THIS?

In August, Albanese appointed former High Court Justice Virginia Bell to lead an inquiry into revelations that Morrison had appointed himself to the health, finance, treasury, home affairs and industry portfolios – all without the knowledge of his ministers… Morrison says he gave himself the extra powers when “there was a need for considerable urgency” in decision-making. He claims he only used them once to overrule a minister in a matter unrelated to COVID. The Bell report was released last Friday and was scathing in its review of Morrison’s actions. It found they were “corrosive of trust in government” and had “little if any connection to the pandemic”. It echoes the findings of an earlier investigation by Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue, which noted Morrison’s actions were technically legal but “fundamentally undermined” the principle of “responsible government” laid out in the Aussie Constitution. 

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MORRISON?

Not much, legally… A censure won’t force him to resign, but it will be officially noted that MPs disapprove of his actions. Morrison has already faced angry colleagues who unknowingly shared their portfolio responsibilities. Former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews called on him to quit in August and his former ally, ex-Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, asked for an apology, calling it an “extreme overreach”. For his part, Morrison – who initially shared joke memes about the issue on social media – has doubled down on the Bell Report’s findings that his actions were “not found to be unlawful” and yesterday thanked colleagues for their support. But at least one Liberal is expected to break ranks… Backbencher Bridget Archer says she will likely cross the floor to support today’s motion. #SquizShortcuts