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Australia steps up transparency rules after inquiry finds ex-PM Scott Morrison’s secret ministries corroded trust
- Morrison had secretly accumulated five ministerial roles during the pandemic: health, finance, treasury, resources and home affairs
- Australia will introduce rules to increase transparency in ministerial appointments
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Australia will introduce rules to increase transparency in ministerial appointments after an inquiry into secret ministerial appointments by then prime minister Scott Morrison found they corroded public trust in government.
Morrison, who lost power in a general election in May, secretly accumulated five ministerial roles during the coronavirus pandemic: health, finance, treasury, resources and home affairs.
Three ministers later said they did not know they were sharing power with Morrison.
An inquiry led by former High Court judge Virginia Bell found the appointments likely hurt public confidence in government. Echoing comments from the solicitor general, Bell said in a report issued on Friday, that the lack of parliamentary accountability undermined responsible government.
“Once the appointments became known, the secrecy with which they had been surrounded was corrosive of trust in government,” Bell said.
Morrison said earlier the appointments were necessary during the pandemic to ensure continuity and as a precaution in case a minister was incapacitated. But the report raised doubts on both counts, arguing, for example, that acting ministers could have been quickly appointed if needed.
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