Australia news live: Morrison says his ministry appointments were ‘safeguards’ in ‘unprecedented’ times

Morrison says ministry appointments were ‘safeguards’ in ‘unprecedented’ times

The former prime minister Scott Morrison is appearing on 2GB after revelations he appointed himself to several ministries in secret while in government.

Morrison says his appointments to three cabinet roles were “safeguards” during “unprecedented” times.

Asked about why he was not upfront about these appointments, Morrison responded:

All ministers know their direct powers are matter between the prime minister and them not the cabinet.

These were not issues that were subject to cabinet.

Former PM Scott Morrison gives a wave. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Reuters

Updated at 18.56 EDT

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NSW records 24 Covid deaths and 2,141 people in hospital.

There were 7,145 new cases in the last reporting period, and 60 people are in intensive care.

Albanese responds to Morrison 2GB interview

The prime minister Anthony Albanese followed his ABC Radio interview with another on ABC Melbourne, which came hot on the heels of Scott Morrison’s air time on 2GB.

Virginia Trioli asked Albanese about Morrison’s response saying the arrangements were fine as, quote, ‘The buck stops with me as Prime Minister’.

Albanese said Morrison was not right “because on issues like resources, that the buck actually stops with the Resources Minister under legislation to make particular decisions”.

We don’t have a one-person band here. What we have is a Government that has inbuilt checks and balances. And that’s why this is such a breach of convention. It’s a breach of processes. And it is typical of someone who, of course, set up a Cabinet committee of one so that he could have meetings with various people and say that it was a meeting of that subcommittee of the Cabinet. It would appear that the former Government went out of its way to hide information and to be to have a lack of transparency. No wonder they objected to having a National Anti-Corruption Commission. This went to the very nature in the heart of the Coalition Government that governed for a period of time and simply lost any perspective about accountability to the Australian people on the way through, that operated in the shadows. And Australia’s deserve better. And our democracy, frankly, deserve better as well.

Trioli also asked Albanese about the reports that also came through during the ABC Melbourne interview that Morrison was also secretly sworn into the social services portfolio.

Albanese said he was not aware “of that particular detail.” He said he would be receving a briefing this morning and will “have more to say later this morning.”

‘Trumpian’: Zali Steggall on Morrison’s many hats

The independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall, has said she is “very concerned by the lack of accountability and transparency” in Scott Morrison’s decision to be appointed to extra portfolios including finance, resources and health.

Steggall told Guardian Australia that Morrison’s “spin” in describing the move as a safety check in pandemic times “doesn’t explain the secrecy”.

Steggall wants more information on the attorney general’s role, whether solicitor general’s advice was obtained and the governor-general’s “involvement” in the decision not to make the appointments public.

She said:

It seems to be part of a Trumpian desire to turn the prime minister into a presidency, where the PM would gain ultimate say on decisions and the ability to override ministers.

Steggall noted Anthony Albanese has referred the matter for investigation, but suggested the question of whether it should be referred to parliament’s privileges committee is “live” – it “needs to be looked at”.

Steggall said she is concerned by the potential local impact, because the proponent of the Pep11 gas development is challenging the validity of the rejection in court, and “the secrecy may advance an argument for the company challenging the decision”. She would be “incredibly annoyed” if Morrison’s role helped the company get the decision overturned.

‘It seems to be part of a Trumpian desire to turn the prime minister into a presidency’: Independent MP Zali Steggall Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 19.57 EDT

What does the revelation of Morrison being sworn into a fourth ministry mean?

AAP earlier reported that Scott Morrison had himself sworn into the social services portfolio last year. Morrison has disputed this, saying he had no recollection of that, in his 2GB interview earlier. Let’s go through this.

An administrative arrangements order, dated 28 June 2021 and signed by both Morrison and the governor general David Hurley, sets out a small number of changes of responsibility among ministers. On that document, it notes that the prime minister had taken over administration of the “Social Security Act 1991, insofar as it relates to Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and the Disaster Recovery Allowance”, and the “Social Security (Administration) Act 1999, insofar as it relates to Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment and the Disaster Recovery Allowance”.

The AAO shows that those powers were actually held by the home affairs minister previously – not the social services minister. The document also specifically says the social services minister has power over most of the Social Services Acts. The document doesn’t exactly prove that Morrison took on social services minister roles, just that he was given administration of one part of that portfolio’s legislation, which was actually previously a power of the home affairs minister.

Morrison told 2GB that he didn’t recall being sworn in as social services minister, but that he was “pursuing” such questions: “I’m happy if there are other (portfolios) to be out there.”

In an ABC Melbourne interview, the PM Anthony Albanese said he too was not aware of Morrison taking on social services, but flagged: “I’ll be receiving a briefing this morning shortly. And I’ll have more to say later this morning.”

Updated at 19.54 EDT

Queensland government to unveil path to Indigenous treaty

Indigenous people will be able to give evidence about injustices committed against them in Queensland as part of the state’s plans to sign a treaty with the state’s First Nations population, AAP reports.

The premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will announce today that an Indigenous truth-telling and healing inquiry will be set up in response to the treaty advancement committee’s final report.

Palaszczuk says laws will also be passed to set up a First Nations Institute within 18 months to draft a legal framework for treaty negotiations. She said in a statement:

What we do next on the Path to Treaty will define our humanity, our sense of fairness, and the legacy we leave our children,

Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history and be truthful about all of it – good and bad – and build a future together where we value, trust, and respect each other.

A Path to Treaty office will be set up within government to prepare for treaty talks once a legal framework has been drafted.

An independent interim body with Indigenous and non-Indigenous representatives will be appointed to oversee the treaty process until the First Nations Institute is established.

The body will lead local truth-telling initiatives to “promote a shared understanding” of history in institutions such as public libraries, museums, archives and art galleries.

Queensland could become the fourth jurisdiction to sign a treaty with Indigenous peoples. Victoria and the ACT have already done so, while the Northern Territory is in an advanced stage of its own treaty process.

‘Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history’: Annastacia Palaszczuk Photograph: Jono Searle/AAP

Updated at 19.48 EDT

McKenzie joins calls for explanation over Morrison secret appointments

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, the shadow infrastructure minister, is on Sky News joining her party leader David Littleproud in saying Australians deserve an explanation for Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments.

There needs to be an explanation.

McKenzie said that Australians understand Morrison assuming the health minister’s responsibility, which needed additional oversight during the pandemic. But she says when it comes to the finance and resources portfolios it is not clear what Morrison’s motivation was:

If it’s just for political reasons, it’s a disgrace.

Updated at 19.43 EDT

Morrison defends appointment to health and finance portfolios, saying he didn’t use powers

Circling back to Morrison’s interview on 2GB – he defended not making public his assumption of the health and finance portfolios because he did not use the powers.

We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place … None of these in the case of the finance and the health portfolio ever required – were required to be used – and they were there as a safeguard. They were there as a redundancy because both of the powers, the powers in those portfolios, they weren’t overseen by cabinet. So, the minister himself and, in both cases, had powers that few if any minister in our federation history was having.

He did not explain as explicitly whether he exercised the powers as the resources minister. As we’re reported, Morrison used the extraordinary powers to overrule the resources minister and block the Pep11 gas exploration licence off the coast of NSW.

Updated at 19.30 EDT

Woman arrested for allegedly stabbing her two children in Adelaide

A 35-year-old woman has been arrested after allegedly stabbing her two children in a car on a motorway in Adelaide late last night.

South Australian Police have released a statement:

Just before 11.30pm on Monday 15 August, police were called to the North South Motorway at Wingfield after a member of the public phoned to advise a woman had been detained.

Police will allege that the woman stopped her car and removed her two young children before stabbing them with a knife.

A member of the public stopped his car on the motorway and intervened, disarming the woman. Soon after he was assisted by other members of the public who restrained the woman until police arrived.

The two young children from Modbury Heights, were taken to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital by SAAS where they were treated for critical injuries. They remain in hospital in a stable condition.

The woman, a 35-year-old from Modbury Heights, was arrested and taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where she has been detained and will likely be charged with two counts of attempted murder.

Updated at 19.15 EDT

Victorian government to introduce bill in response to Lawyer X inquiry

People who expose the identity of police informants may face 10 years’ jail under a bill to be introduced to Victoria’s parliament in response to the Lawyer X royal commission.

The state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, announced the Human Source Management Bill 2022 will be introduced to parliament on Tuesday to deliver on 25 of the recommendations from the royal commission.

The inquiry was called in 2018 after it emerged that the former defence barrister Nicola Gobbo had been acting as a police informant against her own clients and other high-profile mafia figures.

The bill is the first of its kind in Australia and sets out the process for the registration, use and management of Victoria police informants and establishes an external oversight model to ensure they are used in an ethical and justifiable manner.

Victoria’s attorney general Jaclyn Symes. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Under the reforms, Victoria police will have to apply to a senior officer to register a person as an informant. The senior officer will only approve the registration if it is appropriate and justified.

Protections will be put in place where the risks are greatest – such as when a person has access to privileged information, is under 18 or has a serious physical or mental health condition.

The bill makes it an offence to disclose information that would reveal a person is or was an informant unless the disclosure is for a permitted purpose, with a maximum penalty of two years’ jails.

Melbourne lawyer Nicola Gobbo, who was revealed as Lawyer X. Photograph: AAP Image/Supplied by ABC

It also includes an aggravated offence where a person who discloses the information does so to either endanger the health or safety of any person, or interfere with a criminal investigation or prosecution. The maximum penalty for this offence is 10 years’ jail.

The Public Interest Monitor office will oversee all registrations of high-risk informants and the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission will monitor Victoria Police’s compliance with the scheme.

If passed, 48 of the 55 recommendations to government would have been acted upon since the royal commission handed down its findings last year.

Symes says work is well underway to deliver the remaining recommendations:

Human sources are extremely valuable for police but we need clear laws in place to appropriately manage the inherent risks that go with it for both the person involved and Victoria Police.

These important and nation-leading reforms achieve the appropriate balance between mitigating the risks of using human sources and ensuring Victoria Police can continue to act on information to keep our community safe.

Updated at 19.09 EDT

Morrison also sworn in to social services portfolio – report

Scott Morrison was sworn into a fourth portfolio, with documents revealing more about the former prime minister’s moves to secretly install himself across his government’s ministries, AAP reports.

An administrative arrangements order for the social services portfolio was signed by Morrison and the governor general David Hurley on 28 June 2021, on top of him also being privately sworn in as health minister, finance minister and resources minister.

Updated at 18.48 EDT

‘I think it was the right decision’: Morrison defends taking over resources portfolio

Morrison was asked about his involvement in decisions around the resources portfolio on 2GB earlier this morning.

As my colleagues Sarah Martin and Lisa Cox report:

Morrison’s decision to use extraordinary ministerial powers to block the controversial Pep11 gas exploration licence off the coast of NSW is being challenged in the federal court, with the proponent accusing the former prime minister of “bias” that denied procedural fairness.

Morrison responded on 2GB that the resources portfolio had a “specific set of circumstances”.

He maintains:

I think it was the right decision.

Updated at 18.48 EDT

Morrison apologises to Mathias Cormann, admitting error

Mathias Cormann, the former finance minister, was not aware that Morrison had given himself the powers of the finance minister and only learned about the alleged assumption of powers this week.

On that, Morrsion told 2GB:

That was an error … I’ve apologised to Mathias for that.

I thought matter had been sorted between offices.

Mathias Cormann and Scott Morrison at a press conference back in October 2020. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 18.58 EDT