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This afternoon’s headlines at a glance
By Broede Carmody
Good afternoon and thanks for reading our live coverage.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused his predecessor of running a “shadow government”. The comment follows reports that Scott Morrison was sworn into additional portfolios while prime minister to the surprise of other cabinet ministers.
- Morrison is yet to comment on the portfolio saga, but Governor-General David Hurley insists that such appointments are consistent with section 64 of the constitution. “Questions around appointments of this nature are a matter for the government of the day and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet,” he says.
- Meanwhile, constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says the revelations are puzzling. “What an earth is going on? I don’t know, but the secrecy involved in this is just simply bizarre,” she told ABC TV. Nationals leader David Littleproud says the secret appointments are “pretty ordinary”.
- In state news, South Australia has – in an Australian first – appointed an assistant minister for autism. Senior NSW Labor MP Walt Secord will resign from the shadow frontbench following bullying allegations. And Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says a 10-year partnership with vaccine manufacturer Moderna has been finalised.
I’m signing off the blog now. Angus Thomson will be with you for the rest of the day.
I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning. Have a lovely afternoon.
‘Just bizarre’: constitutional expert weighs into portfolio saga
By Broede Carmody
Staying with the former prime minister’s secret portfolios, and constitutional law expert Anne Twomey was interviewed on ABC TV earlier.
Professor Anne Twomey.Credit:Louise Kennerley
Here’s her take:
Oh, well, look, frankly [it’s] just bizarre. The secretness of it is the weird thing. I mean, it’s not strange that [Morrison] might want to have a second person who was able to take over if the first person was incapacitated, etc. But there are ways of doing that anyway. And ordinarily if you do something like that, the basic rules are you announce it to parliament because parliament needs to know who is responsible.
Also, you can just make changes to the administrative arrangement orders, which is the other way of doing this. So that’s the way of saying, OK, in relation to the Biosecurity Act ... the minister for agriculture can seize powers and the minister of health can seize other powers. You can change that by just going to the governor-general, having a council meeting and saying, yes, the prime minister can also exercise these powers.
I went through every single administrative arrangement order this morning and it’s just not there. So what an earth is going on? I don’t know, but the secrecy involved in this is just simply bizarre. I mean, you know, you just wonder what is wrong with these people that they have to do everything in secret and they can’t fess up to what they’re doing. Because if they had done it and made it public [it] probably would have been seen [as] pretty reasonable for people. But hiding it? That’s weird.
Governor-general says Morrison’s secret portfolios consistent with constitution
By Broede Carmody
Governor-General David Hurley has just released a statement regarding the reports that Scott Morrison was sworn into additional portfolios while prime minister to the surprise of other cabinet ministers.
Here’s the statement in full:
Governor-General David Hurley.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The governor-general, following normal process and acting on the advice of the government of the day, appointed former prime minister [Scott] Morrison to administer portfolios other than the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The appointments were made consistently with section 64 of the constitution.
It is not uncommon for ministers to be appointed to administer departments other than their portfolio responsibility. These appointments do not require a swearing-in ceremony - the governor-general signs an administrative instrument on the advice of the prime minister.
Questions around appointments of this nature are a matter for the government of the day and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Similarly, the decision whether to publicise appointments to administer additional portfolios is a matter for the government of the day.
Qld reports 1901 new COVID cases
By Broede Carmody
Meanwhile, Queensland has today reported 1901 new cases of COVID-19.
There were no deaths included in today’s coronavirus update because the state government does not collect that data over the weekend.
There are 459 people in Queensland hospitals with the virus. Of those, 25 are in ICU.
Albanese accuses Morrison of running a ‘shadow government’
By Broede Carmody
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused his predecessor of running a “shadow government”.
As mentioned earlier this morning, there are reports that Scott Morrison was appointed to additional portfolios while PM to the surprise of other cabinet ministers.
In one instance Morrison reportedly overruled the then resources minister, Keith Pitt, by revealing he also had the power to accept or knock back a plan to drill for gas off the NSW coast.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese before speaking in Melbourne this morning.Credit:Eddie Jim
“A whole lot of questions arise from this,” Albanese told reporters in Melbourne.
“What did Peter Dutton and other continuing members of the now shadow ministry know about their circumstances? How is it the Australian people can get misled [about who has what portfolio]? We know now Scott Morrison was not only prime minister but was minister for health, minister for science and industry ... was the minister for finance.
“We all know Scott Morrison had trouble doing the job he had. Perhaps it was because of the jobs we didn’t know he had.”
The PM said he’ll receive a full briefing on this issue this afternoon.
He has also asked the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to seek legal advice from, among others, the Solicitor-General.
“It’s quite extraordinary. It’s clear that the Australian people need explanations. It’s just weird that this has occurred and Australians will be scratching their head.”
PM and Victorian premier formalise mRNA deal
By Caroline Schelle
To Victoria now, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Daniel Andrews have finalised an agreement to manufacture mRNA vaccines.
The 10-year partnership with Moderna will mean a state-of-the-art facility will be built at Monash University. The facility will produce up to 100 million vaccine doses each year.
Prime Minister Albanese alongside Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews at Monash University this morning.Credit:Eddie Jim
The vaccine company will also establish its headquarters and a regional research centre in the state.
“The pandemic has shown us how important local manufacturing capability is to our security and to our health,” Albanese said.
It’s expected that up to 1000 jobs will be created. Half of those will be in construction.
South Australia appoints autism minister
South Australia’s autism community will get its own state government minister in an Australian first.
Labor’s Emily Bourke has been appointed assistant minister for autism in a bid to ensure people with the neurological condition are better represented.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has appointed a minister for autism. Credit:Getty
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas says he’s heard from many South Australians that the time has come for a dedicated effort from government to make autism a priority.
“That is why we have created this new role,” he said earlier today.
“We have made major commitments with the aim of implementing a whole-of-government autism inclusion strategy, starting with our schools.”
As well as the new minister, the premier said the state government would deliver on its election commitments to invest $28.8 million for an autism lead teacher in every public primary school and increase the number of autism-qualified staff in preschools.
Bourke has acknowledged she doesn’t have lived experience with autism but says the government has listened to advocacy by the autism community, through emails, letters, phone calls and forums.
“I am a mother of three, so I know that every parent and caregiver wants their child to reach their individual potential,” she said.
An estimated 200,000 Australians are autistic with autism the largest primary disability group served by the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
The government says autistic people are half as likely to complete year 10 than the general population and three times more likely to be unemployed than other people with disabilities.
AAP
Watch: PM’s press conference
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in Melbourne today.
He held a press conference with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews around 10.20am AEST.
They were joined by federal Health Minister Mark Butler, federal Science and Industry Minister Ed Husic and Victorian Innovation Minister Jaala Pulford.
We’ll have the playback version with you shortly.
Visa backlog on the anniversary of Kabul’s fall
Concerns remain over the number of Afghan visas yet to be processed by Australia a year on from the fall of the capital Kabul to the Taliban.
The federal government is looking at other visa pathways, but Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has stopped short of saying he will raise the humanitarian visa cap of 31,500 for Afghans.
Girls attend class at a secret school in Kabul, Afghanistan. Secondary education for girls has been banned since shortly after the Taliban regained control of the country last year.Credit:Getty Images
More than 40,000 applications covering more than 211,000 people have been lodged.
But only around 6000 permanent visas have been granted in total, Giles says.
“My first focus is on ensuring we meet this obligation, we find places and safety for 31,500 people to rebuild their lives,” he told the ABC when asked about lifting the cap.
“The government is exploring a number of other visa pathways for people from Afghanistan.”
This includes increasing the humanitarian intake more broadly and expanding community sponsorship of refugees by 5000 additional places.
“We are committed over time to raising the overall humanitarian intake,” the immigration minister said.
“But my focus right now is on ensuring we fill those places.”
Extra resources have since been directed to help process the backlog. But no timeframe has been put on clearing the applications.
AAP
‘Embarrassing outbursts’: NSW Treasurer refuses to trade barbs with colleague
By Sarah Keoghan
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has refused to retaliate following a fresh attack from Transport Minister David Elliott, who yesterday blamed him for the prolonged industrial action across the state’s rail network.
Elliott has criticised Kean for, in his view, damaging negotiations with union officials, stating: “That’s what you get when you send a boy in to do a man’s job.”
NSW Transport Minister David Elliott (left) launched a scathing attack on Treasurer Matt Kean.Credit:Steven Siewert, Alex Ellinghausen
The pair have been at odds ever since the Coalition’s loss at the federal election. They’ve most recently clashed over their individual bids for the NSW deputy leadership.
Speaking on Sydney-based radio station 2GB earlier, Kean described Elliott’s attacks on him as “embarrassing outbursts”.
“The premier has made it clear about the behaviour he expects of his ministers and I intend to meet my obligations that the premier set out,” Kean said.
“I’m not going to provide running commentary on these embarrassing outbursts. So I’m just not going to contribute anything further.”
NSW commuters face more disruptions this week as the rail union continues to push for modifications to be made on the new intercity trains at a cost of $264 million before completing negotiations over a new pay deal.
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2022-08-15 04:01:12Z
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