If one wanted to look at the stupidity and incompetence of those who ruled over us during the pandemic, one need only look at the lefts hypocrisy in regards to the Chinese lockdowns.

Liberal Hypocrites Now OPPOSE Lockdowns In China
http://youtu.be/SPOLaS9Tzlc

First they imposed lockdowns against all of us, and used extreme measures against anyone that protested.

Now those same people that supported our lockdowns criticise the Chinese lockdowns, and convey sympathy to Chinese protesters when they supported a heavy handed approach to the same kind protesters in our countries.

This should be adequate to demonstrate that our leaders are completely full of it, they're incompetent, cannot be trusted and have little idea of what they're actually doing.

I don't care that Scomo took on a further responsibility over those other departments, the buck stops with him so taking a closer look at the goings on was actually prudent in my opinion.
But doing so in secrecy, is not in keeping with a responsibility to keep citizens informed of what was happening.
That said, maybe it wasn't necessary since he never really acted upon those changes he made.

If there's any error of judgement it could be Albo for being so petty. He and the ALP cabinet routinely shift blame for broken promises like power price increases on the previous government. Albo also repeats the line to the effect of what a breath of fresh air the ALP represents. For example at big conferences he says we are going to solve the climate problem when the other mob couldn't. The trouble is so far it is all talk. This must be starting to wear thin with the public.

Albo does have public broadcasting on his side. It doesn't look like taxpayers will fund counter arguments to the aboriginal parliament, yet the ABC gleefully echoes everything he says. Perhaps the backlash starts next year.

Revenge it is. It is all about a small-minded, ignorant and spiteful little man, Anthony Albanese.

Morrison was a bad Prime Minister, and an arrogant one. But his 'multi-ministerial nonsense' was neither illegal nor harmful; it did no harm to me or any other Australian voter. It probably miffed a couple of Ministers, but who cares about them!

Then, in charged Albanaste, full of resentment and out for revenge, spending money on something that taxpayers wouldn't give two hoots about. They had been treated like subjects of Xi Jinping over Covid for two years, and this rubbish about 'secret portfolios' is the best the most unlikely PM ever could come up with.

As the author says there "there is no evidence" that Morrison's actions in any way 'undermined public confidence in the government' - particularly as the public new nothing about it, didn't need to know anything about it, and now that it is revealed, don't care about it. Plenty of things have undermined the public's confidence in government, but this trivial affair is not one of them.

In relation to Covid, Morrison's big blue was to set up the so called national cabinet, and allow power-crazed state premiers and their bureaucrats to act like little Xis. He can rightly be condemned "for political ineptitude and even stupidity".

But little Albo won't condemn Morrison for that because he, Albo, has the same faults, in spades.

The current PM, rather that take his nastiness out on the previous PM, should be holding a real enquiry into the authoritarian actions during Covid that his own Leftist comrades were involved in up to their eyeballs.

The actions under review and subject to censure are strictly post pandemic. And were, I believe, an attack on the very fundamentals of democracy. As far as I know, Morrison is not a lefty. Nor the government he led nor the cabinet he presided over.

So, the usual imbecilic response by our extreme right wing nutjobs to blame everything on scapegoat lefties, demonstrates just how much they belong to the willfully blind, out of touch lunatic fringe. Please self-identify with the usual enraged, cage rattling response.

It was nothing more, I believe, than a power grab by a power junkie. And Morrisons defense was little more than a review of the government's response to the pandemic. Which had nothing whatsoever to do with Morrison's secret self-appointments to several portfolios.

They're two completely different things that are, I believe, in no way related to the issue at hand.

The censure (virtual, naughty boy, finger wag, slap on the wrist with a verbal wet tram ticket) will, I believe, change nothing for a tone-deaf Morrison who tries to portray himself as the persecuted victim being verbally stoned/politically crucified by colleagues. And, I also believe, outrageous hypocrisy in the extreme.

The man should resign and go home to his family to rest and recover until he is well again And, able to regain logical perspective! And his mojo.
Alan B.

I'm pleased that the legislation was finally passed and now a federal anticorruption commission will be able to bring it sights to bear on this and the possible misappropriation of taxpayer funds on sports rorts and parking lot rorts, etc., etc.
Alan B.

Unfortunately a typical piece excusing the inexcusable from a partisan hack.

The Solicitor General is not to be dismissed as a mere "public servant". The man is highly qualified and one of the foremost legal minds in the country which is why the Morrison government reappointed him for another 5 year term.

While he did indeed find that the strict lettering of the Constitution did not prescribe Morrison's actions he was also quite scathing in his report saying:

"That said, the fact that the Parliament, the public and the
other Ministers who thereafter administered DISER
concurrently with Mr Morrison were not informed of
Mr Morrison’s appointment was inconsistent with the
conventions and practices that form an essential part of the
system of responsible government prescribed by Ch II of the
Constitution. That is because it is impossible for Parliament
and the public to hold Ministers accountable for the proper
administration of particular departments if the identity of the
Ministers who have been appointed to administer those
departments is not publicised. That conclusion does not
depend on the extent to which Mr Morrison exercised
powers under legislation administered by DISER, because
from the moment of his appointment he was responsible for
the administration of the department."

Despite the careful legal language this was a pointed rebuke.

It is quite fitting that some one whose behaviour was utterly: "inconsistent with the conventions and practices that form an essential part of the system of responsible government" receive some form of censure, even if it is just to dissuade similar behaviour in the future.

To be downplaying it and calling the move to censure vindictive is just partisan tripe

I've never been a fan of PM Morrison but I watched his parliamentary speech this morning and was mightily impressed. A bit more of that a year ago might have been useful. This was in contrast to the dirge from our current PM who seemed just a tad embarrassed by the whole thing and could probably see pay-back in his future.

The fact is that as dual minister of departments like treasury he made no decisions and even of he did, as PM he always had the ability to over-ride ministers anyway. The claim that he deprived the parliament of the chance to ask questions of the Treasurer (for example) is plainly rubbish. The Treasurer was there when needed and if not the opposition is always at liberty to ask the PM any question about any department.

This is a pile on to a now defenceless enemy. Public servants, whose careers depend on keeping the current regime happy, are saying what the ALP wants to hear.

"To be downplaying it and calling the move to censure vindictive is just partisan tripe"

In contrast to your even-handed approach?

Dear mhaze,

Even handed approach?

What?

Are you serious?

This from a bloke who was calling Andrews "Chairman" and banging on about his big "power grab"!

Yet Andrews did not hold a patch to the secretive, power hungry, conniving, backstabbing, machinations of Morrison.

SR

I didn't claim to be even-handed nor did I critique others for failing to be. Unlike some.

.."the secretive, power hungry, conniving, backstabbing, machinations of Morrison." Now THAT'S even-handed. <smile>

Despite all his failings, at least Morrison never once had his enforcers fire on his people.

Dear mhaze,

I purposely used adjectives used by members of his own side to describe him. There are plenty of others.

As to Andrews having "his enforcers fire on his people" what Murdoch level hyperbole.

It is highly unlikely that Andrews directly ordered to police to take the action they did to clear the Shrine. It did not involve bullets of any kind, not even rubber ones. These were bean bag rounds.

For the record though I'm not comfortable with the militarisation of our police forces here in Australia. The fear mongering around perceived terrorism threats has allowed it. Tactical uniforms and vehicles really have little place on our streets.

Yet the beatups of the kind you are attempting are just not warranted. The Andrews victory showed how much Victorians accepted that the measures taken, though unpleasant, were done largely for the right reasons. You need to just suck it up.

"You need to just suck it up."

Actually I don't.

I accept the reality that the ALP won the election, while at the same time lamenting the state of a populace that can re-elect an authoritarian regime like that. I can lament the fact that the nation has chosen promised safety over freedom while accepting that that's the reality.

And I can fret for the future of freedom here and in other western countries while recognising that the populace is willing surrendering that freedom.

What the hell do these lefties use for memory. They certainly don't give any impression of having one.

It was Morrison & the NSW premier who wanted to keep boarders open. Queensland & Victorian premiers were the pushers of closed boarders. I admit I was in agreement with closed boarders at the time, due mostly to me falling for lousy MSM reporting of the facts.

If Morison was in error it was not in restricting travel with in Oz, but in not slamming the national boarder shut tight.

I do find it interesting that half a dozen cases had our state boarders shut for weeks, but today 30,000 cases is usual, & ignored.

I don't give a damn personally, I, & my family were never stupid enough to be jabbed, & I acquired my Ivermectin supply from India, although at considerable expense. The one thing I will never forgive Morrison for is the restriction that made Ivermectin unobtainable here.

I guess we will have to wait 30 years to know the truth of the pressure he was under in that decision, & the stupidity of the net zero in Oz, & who was exerting that pressure. Something for my kids to learn.

It may be possible to justify appointing the PM to many existing portfolios during a national emergency – though most experts seem to think it wasn’t necessary. But it was totally inexcusable to keep the appointments secret from the public, parliament and even many of the ministers who held those positions. In the Westminster system, the government is accountable to Parliament. That cannot possibly work when Parliament doesn’t know who is exercising ministerial powers, or what they are doing. What Morrison did may have been legal, but it was a disgraceful attack on the principles and protocols of Australia’s democracy. The truly sad thing is that he apparently doesn’t realise how serious it was.

He fully deserves the censure.

Dear Rhian,

Indeed. Moreover he lied about it.

"On 20 May, Morrison was pressed by reporters on the campaign trail in Perth about why the government didn’t use “discretionary powers” to allow the Murugappan family to stay.

Morrison said that option “is available … under ministerial intervention”.

“And that ministerial intervention is done by the minister, not the prime minister. That’s not what the act provides.

“He [Hawke] makes that decision – no, that it’s his decision.”

Morrison doubled down, insisting it would be “inappropriate” to discuss the matter with Hawke because “it’s his decision … in the same way it was his decision over Novak Djokovic”.

Asked what his decision would be, Morrison replied: “Well, I’m not the minister.”

Morrison had been sworn in to administer the home affairs department on 6 May 2021, more than a year earlier."
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/30/scott-morrison-falsely-claimed-he-lacked-powers-to-help-biloela-family

SR,

Quite how that's a lie is in the eye of the beholder.

The fact is Morrison didn't exercise any of the supposed powers that he had taken except in one minor instance.

All the rest is confected outrage to punish an ideological opponent and to divert attention from those things the government would prefer not examined. When the shoe's on the other foot, and at some time it will be, the left will look askant as to why they're being treated so unfairly. But payback always comes.

Going after a defeated and helpless opponent is a very bad precedent.

Morrison is a very sick political puppy, and political euthanasia is called for. The sooner a by-election is held in the seat of Cook, and the present parasite is removed the better.

mhaze
he said "I'm not the minister" when he was, in fact, the minister. How is that not a lie?

If you watched his speech yesterday he said he wasn't the Minister for those departments. He quoted from the Bell Report confirming that. He also pointed out that when he was sworn in, the word was careful to avoid saying he was being appointed as the Minister for those departments.

the speech is here.... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/news/video-2827521/Video-Scott-Morrison-defends-against-House-censure-motion.html

but as usual most will avoid listening to anything that might tell them something they don't want to hear.

Now the question as to whether he was or wasn't a minister is a legal one. The Bell Report covered that. But he thought he wasn't the Minister for those departments and therefore he wasn't lying.

http://youtu.be/UB8TCRUd9rA

Dear mhaze,

Working hard to defend the indefensible I see.

Morrison not a minister for those portfolios?

Well you had better tell that to Asset Energy who are taking action against Morrison “as the responsible Commonwealth minister of the Commonwealth-New South Wales offshore petroleum joint authority” in the Federal Court over his overriding the 'other' minister responsible for gas exploration.

Oh, so you're treating an energy company as the ultimate source of truth? Wow!

Read the Bell Report - Appendix A.

I'm not trying to defend Morrison....just the truth.

Dear mhaze,

Appendix a contained each of the appointment documents of the Governor General.

Each is clearly headed:

APPOINTMENT OF MINISTER OF STATE

http://www.ministriesinquiry.gov.au/system/files/2022-11/ministries-inquiry-report.pdf Page 107.

Why is this so hard for you?

Fools errand mhaze, trying to get a lefty particularly one like SR, as small minded as Albo, to acknowledge the truth.

Dear Hasbeen,

How's it going old cock? Good?

The only fool's errand here mate would be to expect someone like you to open a provided link to ascertain the truth for yourself. Never going to happen was it.

Oh well.

Reading skills up to the usual standard SR?

On the very page you pointed to it is clear that Morrison was appointed to "administer the DEPARTMEMT OF HEALTH" for example.

Just to administer. not as minister.

I've warned yo before about this very bad habit of just reading until you find something that suits and then ignoring the rest. Its led you down the garden path before, and now again. The ministry is limited to 30. If he was appointed as Minister then that number would have been exceeded. Then it would have been illegal. But we've already established that it wasn't illegal.

I know this is all very complex so you'll just have to trust me on it.

Dear mhaze,

Struts you present as an utter dill when you get out of your depth.

Ministers administer departments. He was sworn in as a minister for the other portfolios. He himself acknowledges it in the bloody report:

"Mr Morrison informed me, again through his
legal representative, that “neither [he] nor his office instructed PM&C not to gazette the
appointments”, and that he “assumed the usual practice would apply following the relevant
Ministerial appointments”. He subsequently explained that he understood the “usual
practice” to be that the appointments would be gazetted. This understanding was not
consistent with what I was told by PM&C, which is that the announcement of ministerial
appointments is the prerogative of the Prime Minister."

Both Menzies and Whitlam held other portfolios along with their usual office of Prime Minister and Cabinet. It wasn't done in secret though.

Finally Morrison jointly holding other ministries does increase the number of ministers. Why on earth claim such rubbish?

That should have read "doesn't increase".