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Scott Morrison press conference: Former PM resists calls to resign over secret ministerial appointments

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Kimberley CainesThe West Australian
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Former prime minister Scott Morrison has resisted calls to resign from politics.
Camera IconFormer prime minister Scott Morrison has resisted calls to resign from politics. Credit: Rick Rycroft/AP

A defiant Scott Morrison has defended his decision to secretly swear himself into five ministries — but has refused to resign from politics.

The embattled former Prime Minister said his actions were “lawful” and he was forced to arm himself with “emergency powers” to take unprecedented measures during the COVID-19 pandemic to shield the nation from “unforeseen” challenges.

He argued his decision to appoint himself into the portfolios of home affairs, treasury, health, finance, and industry, science, energy and resources had been taken out of context when grilled by the media on why he kept it a secret.

“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,” Mr Morrison said in his first press conference since the saga emerged.

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“These were extraordinary times... no Prime Minister, I think, has faced the same combination of circumstances — be it the pandemic or indeed the drought, the global recession and the Australian recession caused by the pandemic and the many other natural disasters that befell the country over that period of time.

“It was a very difficult time. It was a very unusual time. It was a very extraordinary time.”

The former Liberal leader said his ministers and Cabinet made decisions they never dreamed they would have to consider, with events related to the pandemic changing hourly.

“It wasn’t a two-month thing. It went over more than two years,” he said.

“There was a clear expectation established in the public’s mind, certainly in the media’s mind... that I as Prime Minister was responsible, pretty much for every single thing that was going on.

“People held me, rightly, to account for that.”

When asked if he would resign, he replied “of course not”.

“I will continue to serve as the Member for Cook for the people of Cook with the best of my ability, which I continue to do today,” Mr Morrison said.

“I particularly thank them for the strong support they’ve given me in recent days... and I’ll make a decision at the appropriate time as to whether I’ll contest the next election.”

It comes after former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews urged Mr Morrison to quit politics, confirming she was not aware he had sworn himself into her portfolio last year.

She found out on Tuesday when Anthony Albanese announced Mr Morrison had used section 64 of the Constitution to appoint himself to the five portfolios.

“I am going to ask him to resign and leave Parliament,’’ Ms Andrews was reported saying.

“I have nothing to say to him. This is totally unacceptable for a Prime Minister to behave in this manner undermines everything that a Federal Government constitutionally should stand for.”

She said the Australian people had been let down and “betrayed”.

Former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg did not know his portfolio had been taken on by Mr Morrison, with the former Prime Minister on Wednesday saying they had “a wonderful conversation” and were “the best of friends”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has now moved to distance himself from Mr Morrison and conceded that he did not agree with the secret portfolio decisions.

He said the Coalition would work with Labor to ensure no Prime Minister would be able to secretly put themselves in charge of other ministries again — vowing to never take those actions.

“It’s appropriate he has apologised because what he did clearly was the wrong thing in relation to the other appointments,” Mr Dutton told Tasmania Talks radio show on Wednesday.“If I was Prime Minister, it’s not something that I would’ve done. It’s not something that I would do if I’m elected to be Prime Minister at the next election and we’ll work with the Government to make sure the checks and balances are put in place to make sure that it can’t happen again.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers called out Mr Dutton for not standing up to Mr Morrison once the ministry saga became public.

He said the Liberal leader was “the chief apologist, the chief defender” of Mr Morrison’s dictatorial behaviour in holding secret portfolios in the former government.

“Peter Dutton would be absolutely no better than Scott Morrison when it comes to what’s been revealed in the last couple of days,” Dr Chalmers said.

“Now the Morrison Government is just as guilty as Scott Morrison himself.”

Mr Albanese will receive advice on the legality and legal implications of Mr Morrison’s actions on August 22.

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