Australia got an early look-in on Trump Derangement Syndrome in 2013, when Tony Abbott was elected PM. Now we’re back to the usual game of the media-political class playing catch-up to America. Just as the American media are living in a parallel universe to the rest of the country, the Australian media is whipping itself into a frenzy about stuff that the rest of the country couldn’t give a rat’s arse about.
And, just as former president Trump continues to live, rent-free, in the heads of the American left, former PM Scott Morrison is jostling for space in the tiny confines of the heads of the Australian left.
For the last two days, the Australian media pack has been furiously fighting over the driest imaginable bone.
Scott Morrison secretly swore himself in as joint health minister when Covid-19 began to take off in March 2020, after concerns that by invoking emergency measures under biosecurity laws, he was effectively handing control of the country to Greg Hunt.
The Australian
The health minister at the time, Greg Hunt, approved and welcomed the move. Mr Morrison and Mr Hunt were considering invoking a drastic emergency measure under section 475 of the Biosecurity Act. It effectively would have given Mr Hunt control of the country, with the power to make directives that would override any other law and would not be disallowable by parliament. He had authority to direct any citizen to do, or not do, something to prevent spread of Covid-19.
Mr Morrison, who wanted checks and balances, was advised by attorney-general Christian Porter and had himself sworn in as health minister. The trio saw it as “safeguarding against any one minister having absolute power”.
Mr Morrison also had himself sworn in as finance minister, “to ensure there were two people who had their hands on the purse strings”.
Morrison also had himself sworn in as resources minister. It’s a highly unusual move, but these were unusual times, to say the least. State premiers were unilaterally closing internal borders and imposing curfews on Australian cities for the first time in the nation’s history. Premiers were banning people from using beaches, golf courses, parks, even children’s playgrounds. Daniel Andrews in Victoria rammed through laws to give himself unprecedented and unending “emergency powers”.
The first thing that must be asked is: did Morrison do anything illegal?
Constitutional lawyers note that Mr Morrison’s decision to swear himself in as a minister of other portfolios was not technically unconstitutional. But it defied custom and practice, undermining transparency and accountability. University of Sydney constitutional law professor Anne Twomey said the move was “presidential”, not done through the usual cabinet process, a key component of the Westminster system.
Governor-General David Hurley said his appointment of Mr Morrison to portfolios other than his own was not “uncommon”. He acted on the advice of the government of the day. Constitutional lawyer Greg Craven said Mr Hurley’s conduct was “beyond reproach”.
The Australian
So, not illegal, not uncommon according to the Governor-General, who is “beyond reproach”, according to a Constitutional lawyer.
What, exactly are we supposed to taste in this nothingburger?
Scott Morrison has broken his silence to defend his actions in secretly appointing himself as minister for health, finance and resources throughout the past two years.
“We were dealing with quite extraordinary circumstances, and as a result we had to consider some rather unconventional options,” he told 2GB.
“We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place. None of these, in the case of the finance and the health portfolio, were ever required to be used.” […]
“That was only there as a safeguard and it wasn’t needed. If I had to trigger it, then of course we would (announce it).”
The Australian
It’s somewhat ironic to be lectured on the mythical “pub test” by a media-political class who’ve never set foot in a pub in their lives. If they ever deigned to venture outside their inner-city cafes or Canberra’s exclusive bars, they’d probably find that people in pubs struggle to get what all the fuss is about.
On the other hand, people in pubs might have a lot to say about a PM who only returns from overseas trips to grant himself a two-week holiday just 90 days into the job. They’d have even more to say about the pandemic shenanigans of Labor state premiers.
But, as we see, the media will gin up any old rubbish to avoid talking about that.
