Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison will be facing a censure motion by the federal parliament over his decision to secretly appoint himself to additional ministerial portfolios.  

The federal government is expected to move the motion in parliament on Wednesday, during the final sitting week of the year.  

While censure motions do not have any legal consequences, they give parliamentarians the chance to formally note disapproval with their colleagues. 

Coalition MPs won’t support the motion against Scott Morrison, labelling it a “political stunt” by the federal government. 

However, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said it was important for parliament to show its disapproval of Mr Morrison’s conduct. 

“These are the actions of a prime minister who had himself appointed to some five ministries and kept it secret from the parliament,” he said. 

“It’s a very serious attack on our democracy and we can’t let it go unmarked.” 

The last MP to be censured was Liberal MP Bruce Billson in 2018 due to not declaring payments while he was still in parliament. 

Attorney-General Dreyfus said what Mr Morrison did was a breach of democratic principles. 

“(Being) censured by the parliament is a very, very unusual step, and I think that in itself is a very serious punishment,” he said. 

But Nationals leader David Littleproud said that while he did not support Mr Morrison’s secretive ministries, a censure was not necessary. 

“What the parliament should be focused on is the reform that that report said we should take up as a parliament and we should do that in a bipartisan way,” he said. 

“But what we should do is focus on Australians and focus on the cost-of-living pressures they’re facing at the moment.” 

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, a former cabinet colleague of Mr Morrison, said the motion was “just theatre” and that the former prime minister’s actions were not illegal.  

“There’s an inference of criminality … we have so many issues that are more pressing,” he said. 

“I’m very interested in power, but not the power of a former prime minister – I’m interested in power prices.” 

House leader Tony Burke or Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus will move the motion. 

Cabinet has agreed to implement all six recommendations from former High Court judge Virginia Bell’s report into Mr Morrison’s conduct, to improve the transparency of ministerial appointments. 

Prime Minister Albanese said the federal government would introduce proposals for new laws to implement the recommendations from the report later this week. 

“The actions of the former prime minister were extraordinary, they were unprecedented and they were wrong,” he told parliament.  

The Prime Minister said Australians deserved to know who their ministers were and for the Westminster system of government to be upheld by people they elected to represent them in parliament. 

With AAP

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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