Australia news live: Scott Morrison’s secret ministry swearing-ins ‘more Trump than Westminster’, Bill Shorten says

Morrison’s multiple ministries ‘more Trump than Westminster’, Bill Shorten says

NDIS minister Bill Shorten was just on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and was asked what he thought of the biggest story of the day (former PM Scott Morrison taking on multiple ministries).

Shorten said it was the dysfunction that concerned him, and compared Morrison to former US president Donald Trump, and added that it was “shocking” that a PM would accrue power.

Here’s his answer:

Viewers might say what is this to do with us? We’ve discovered that we had a prime minister who was acting more from the Donald Trump playbook than the Westminster democracy playbook.

The idea that a prime minister is accruing powers, not telling the public at large is shocking.

The fact [is] he didn’t even trust his own cabinet. When a prime minister and cabinet don’t know what each other is doing, that is a fundamental breakdown in our system of government.

If it was all above board you would have told people, wouldn’t you.

Even if they felt they needed to keep it secret, this speaks to a pathology or sickness that existed in the previous government. Mr Morrison had his ‘miracle election win’, the problem is their conduct since then was just shocking.

‘The idea that a prime minister is accruing powers, not telling the public at large is shocking,’ Bill Shorten says. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated at 04.06 EDT

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A “watch and act” warning has been issued for a bushfire in the Burawa community and surrounds in the Shire of Derby and West Kimberley, in Western Australia.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services downgraded their warning after the fire was contained this afternoon, but said conditions are changing and there is a possible threat to lives and homes.

The DFES is advising residents to leave now if the way is clear, to make final preparations if people are planning to defend their homes, and to stay away if they are not home.

Updated at 04.07 EDT

Dutton: I have no doubt governor general acted appropriately

Dutton continued to spar with host Raf Epstein, refusing to criticise Morrison, backing the current governor general, and confirming that he did not know if Morrison was also sworn in as defence minister:

I wasn’t consulted, wasn’t part of the decision making process. I’ve read about it in the paper in the last couple of days.

I’m the leader of the Liberal party … we had an election in May of this year, we had a new government elected, and I can tell you that around kitchen tables tonight, people are talking about how they are going to pay their power bill, how they’re going to balance their budget.

The governor general has issued a statement today, and he’s a person for whom I have the utmost respect, and he’s explained his position, his understanding of the law and constitution, and I have no doubt that he has acted entirely appropriately.

Updated at 03.42 EDT

Peter Dutton says he was not aware of Morrison’s secret ministries

Opposition leader Peter Dutton was just on ABC Radio Melbourne, and was pushed on whether or not it was the right decision by former PM Scott Morrison to keep secret the ministries he had taken on.

Dutton stood firm, refusing to budge on his position (that it was a matter for the then prime minister), and refused to give a moral reading of the situation:

Obviously the then prime minister had his reasons, his logic for it, but it was not a decision I was party to or was aware of. It was a decision-making process that he’s made.

The only point I’d make is that at the start of Covid, and I was in this category, I was an early adopter of Covid, I came back from the US and tested positive. It was mandated that I be admitted to hospital. And so, I suspect some of Scott’s logic at the time was, if and this was at the time obviously, when there was no vaccine and people were having all sorts of armageddon scenarios, and the briefings were pretty confronting when we first got them.

No doubt all that fits into his logic, but I wasn’t part of that decision-making process. And they are decisions, like in any government, that are within the domain of the prime minister of the day.

It’s an issue for the then prime minister, as it is for this prime minister.

I’m pretty sure that Anthony Albanese doesn’t discuss with the whole backbench and the ministry and the caucus, who it is that he has appointed to different portfolios.

I wasn’t there for the decision making, I don’t know …

Updated at 03.32 EDT

Morrison’s multiple ministries ‘more Trump than Westminster’, Bill Shorten says

NDIS minister Bill Shorten was just on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, and was asked what he thought of the biggest story of the day (former PM Scott Morrison taking on multiple ministries).

Shorten said it was the dysfunction that concerned him, and compared Morrison to former US president Donald Trump, and added that it was “shocking” that a PM would accrue power.

Here’s his answer:

Viewers might say what is this to do with us? We’ve discovered that we had a prime minister who was acting more from the Donald Trump playbook than the Westminster democracy playbook.

The idea that a prime minister is accruing powers, not telling the public at large is shocking.

The fact [is] he didn’t even trust his own cabinet. When a prime minister and cabinet don’t know what each other is doing, that is a fundamental breakdown in our system of government.

If it was all above board you would have told people, wouldn’t you.

Even if they felt they needed to keep it secret, this speaks to a pathology or sickness that existed in the previous government. Mr Morrison had his ‘miracle election win’, the problem is their conduct since then was just shocking.

‘The idea that a prime minister is accruing powers, not telling the public at large is shocking,’ Bill Shorten says. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated at 04.06 EDT

Good afternoon, and a quick thanks to the brilliant Tory Shepherd for steering us through the afternoon. This is Mostafa Rachwani, and there is still much going on, so let’s dive in.

And, on that note of the “adorable but possessed lamb”, this little Shepherd is handing over to Mostafa Rachwani. Till next time!

I haven’t played a video game since Donkey Kong (does that count?) but how can you go past this as a storyline?:

An adorable but possessed lamb … has their life saved by an ominous deity; as repayment, they must form a cult to appease the deity, growing its following by launching crusades, collecting resources and venturing out into the game’s five regions to defeat rival cults.

Updated at 02.37 EDT

“I would have been asking questions,” McKenzie says, when asked what she would have done had she been aware that former prime minister Scott Morrison was surfing in on others’ turf.

McKenzie: ‘We need to understand decision-making process’

“Our system relies on long-standing conventions,” McKenzie says, when asked if the appointments should have been made public.

As for former prime minister Scott Morrison, she says it’s up to him to decide what to do. “We need to understand the decision-making process,” she says:

We need to understand whether this was a precedent set, and under what authority.

Updated at 02.26 EDT