Hurley says he had ‘no reason to believe’ extra ministries would be kept secret – as it happened

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What we learned: Wednesday, 17 August

And with that, we will close the blog for the day. Here’s what happened today:

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has remained defiant, refusing to resign after his five secret ministry self-appointments were revealed, defending his secrecy because he says he never exercised the powers he had.

Current prime minister Anthony Albanese blasted Morrison, saying he was being “evasive” and “self-serving” over secret ministries.

The governor general, David Hurley, said he did not have a reason to believe the appointments would not be communicated in a statement this afternoon.

Various MPs past and present have continued to criticise Morrison for his actions, including Clare O’Neil, Jacqui Lambie, Stuart Robert, Matthew Thistlethwaite, Adam Bandt and Jason Clare.

Former prime minister John Howard said Morrison’s actions were “unusual” and it was “unwise to have kept it secret” but echoed Barnaby Joyce’s defence that what Morrison did was not illegal.

The NSW government has accepted every recommendation from the flood report by former chief scientist Mary O’Kane and former police commissioner Mick Fuller.

The planning authority in Canberra’s parliamentary triangle has terminated the Russian government’s lease for a planned new embassy and ordered it to get off the site within three weeks.

The wage price index for the June quarter rose 2.6%.

Victoria’s opposition pledged to scrap the suburban rail loop, described as the biggest transport project in the state’s history, with “every cent” of the $34.5bn saved to be invested in the health system if elected in November.

Victor Dominello announced he has “made the difficult decision to retire from politics” after 14 years and four elections. The customer service minister has told the premier, Dominic Perrottet, he won’t contest the March election.

The high court has given judgment in favour of Google in an important test case about the search engine’s liability for hyperlinks to defamatory articles.

Across the country today, 67 deaths from Covid were recorded.

Updated at 05.25 EDT

ARLC delays decision on NRL grand final location

In breaking news this evening, the battle for the NRL grand final will continue until at least Thursday, after the ARL commission again delayed a decision at a meeting tonight.

Both NSW and Queensland are in contention for the grand final, after the Queensland government campaigned hard to have the showpiece moved from its traditional Sydney location.

We’ll have to wait until Thursday for a final decision though:

Updated at 05.21 EDT

‘John Curtin didn’t do this’ in wartime, says education minister Jason Clare of Morrison’s secret ministries

Education minister, Jason Clare, also weighed into the debate surrounding Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolio, telling Sky News it was “dodgy as buggery,” and rejecting Morrison’s explanations:

The fact that they kept this secret from their own members of parliament, from the whole parliament, and from the Australian people, tells you that they thought this was dodgy as buggery.

Well, we’ve been to war before. When war broke out in Europe, Menzies didn’t do this. When the Japanese were on the march over the Kokoda track, John Curtin didn’t do this.

There’s no good reason for the former prime minister to have done this at all, and it’s made worse by the fact that he decided to conceal this and cover it up, and it was only exposed now by the Australian newspaper.

Updated at 04.54 EDT

Tony Abbott says Scott Morrison’s secret appointments ‘unorthodox’ and ‘unusual’

Former liberal prime minister Tony Abbott has labelled Scott Morrison’s actions in taking on ministerial portfolios in secret “unorthodox” and “unusual”, adding that it was “strange” some ministers didn’t know what was going on.

Abbott was speaking at Henry Jackson Society in London when he was asked about Morrison, and although he said it was all strange, he added that he was “reluctant to condemn” what happened:

The pandemic was a completely unprecedented situation, and a whole lot of things that normally would never have been done, were done, and without knowing a lot more than I have currently read in the newspapers, I would be reluctant to condemn what seems to have happened.

It does seem unusual, it seems unorthodox; and it does seem strange that at least some ministers didn’t know about it.

Updated at 04.33 EDT

Sarah Martin was never going to miss with her column on Morrison today, and as always, it’s a must-read:

Updated at 04.13 EDT

Sophie Scamps to introduce private member’s bill on political appointments process in light of Scott Morrison revelations

Rewinding for a moment, teal independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, was on the ABC this afternoon, calling for a parliamentary inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolios.

She said lots of people are “shocked and surprised” by the revelations, and that it was important to restore trust in Australian democracy:

There has been a lack of trust in our democracy [and] my main motivation for calling for an inquiry, a parliamentary inquiry is to find out where we go forward from here.

I do think it’s important we have an investigation and an inquiry because the lack of transparency and the secrecy that happened here is the real problem and that’s the disturbing element.

We need the parliamentary inquiry, the privileges inquiry, just to look at – just to see what happened, who knew what when?

I’ll be introducing a private member’s bill around the political appointments process as well. I do think transparency and openness is the absolute crux of our democracy. And I think the reason people are so disturbed and so surprised at what happened was the level of secrecy and the unilateral nature of what happened as well.

Updated at 03.58 EDT

‘No reason to believe’ secret ministries would not be made public, governor general says

The governor general, David Hurley, has released a statement this afternoon on Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolios, saying he did not have a reason to believe the appointments would not be communicated.

He says it is not the responsibility of the governor general to advise the ministry or the parliament (or the public) on “administrative changes of this nature”:

The Governor-General is content for the process that the Prime Minister has put in place to be completed and will not comment further. The Governor-General acted on the advice of the government of the day, consistent with the principle of responsible government (in which Ministers are responsible to the parliament, and through them to the Australian people, for the advice that they provide to the Governor-General).

In relation to questions around secrecy: any questions around secrecy after the Governor-General had acted on the advice of the government of the day are a matter for the previous government. It is not the responsibility of the Governor-General to advise the broader Ministry or parliament (or public) of administrative changes of this nature. The Governor-General had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated.

In terms of questions around the process by which advice is provided to the Governor-General: recommendations relating to appointments of Ministers of State, or to appoint a Minister to have administrative responsibilities over another department, are not, by convention, considered by Federal Executive Council. They are recommendations made, in writing, by the Prime Minister to the Governor-General. The Governor-General signs an instrument to act on the advice of the government of the day. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is responsible for that process.

Governor general David Hurley has released a statement on Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial portfolios. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 03.46 EDT

Australians’ alcohol consumption falls from pandemic high

The number of Australians who drink alcohol has dropped since 2021, a report by research firm Roy Morgan has found.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, Australians’ alcohol consumption had been slowly declining for over a decade; but in 2020 and 2021 this trend reversed, with alcohol consumption increasing across most categories. This increase in alcohol consumption prompted concern from public health experts.

The Roy Morgan CEO, Michele Levine, described the increase in drinking as a “short-term pandemic related trend” and said it “has now come to an end” but also noted that “the consumption of wine and spirits is still well above pre-pandemic levels”.

One year ago 69.7% of Australian adults drank alcohol, with the figure declining 1.8% to to 67.9% in figures from June 2022.

The Roy Morgan Alcohol Consumption report tracks regularity of drinking across different alcohol categories, and is not focused on public health outcomes.

It found that in 2022, Australians are drinking wine, beer and spirits less frequently than in 2021. The one exception to the decline is the ready-to-drink (RTD) category, which takes in pre-mixed drinks like alcopops and hard seltzers, but also batch-made, bottled cocktails.

“A deeper look into the RTDs market shows the increasing popularity of seltzers over the last few years is continuing to drive the increasing consumption of RTDs generally,” Levine said.

Hard seltzers began to hit the Australian market in significant numbers in 2019, just before the pandemic struck, and these newer alcoholic products are still attracting an increasing array of customers.

The emerging trends suggest consumption of wine and spirits looks set to return to pre-pandemic levels while … beer consumption continues its long-term decline.

Updated at 03.27 EDT

Adam Bandt calls Morrison’s secret ministries an assault on democracy

Greens leader Adam Bandt was also on the ABC this afternoon, and he compared Scott Morrison’s actions in taking on these ministries to something “you’d expect from Donald Trump”:

This is the kind of act you’d expect from Donald Trump. It’s a major assault on one of the fundamentals of our democracy. Ministers have enormous power and get to make decisions that affect people’s lives and get to spend money. Many of those decisions are made behind closed doors. We are entitled as the public and as parliamentarians to know who the ministers are who are making decisions that affect us.

And we’re trying to hold these ministers to account, asking them questions in question time, holding them to count for decisions they’ve made. I find the mental principle behind that is you’ve got to know who the minister is. Who is making the decision? That is why prime ministers stand up in parliament and table lists of who the ministers are.

It turns out what Scott Morrison was telling us in parliament about who was responsible was wrong. He knew things he knew were wrong. He was telling the parliament something completely different and telling the public something completely different. If this was such a great idea of his, why didn’t he make it public?

I think the issue should concern people right across the country, and concern people across the political spectrum in parliament, because you have someone making an unprecedented decision, coming up with all the justifications in the world for it, but keeping it secret and he was the prime minister.

Australian Greens leader Adam Bandt. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated at 03.12 EDT

Clare O’Neil unconvinced by Scott Morrison’s explanations

Minister for home affairs, Clare O’Neil, says she is “absolutely not” convinced by Scott Morrison’s explanation for his secret portfolios.

Speaking on the ABC earlier, O’Neil first criticised Morrison’s performance at his press conference:

This was vintage Scott Morrison. Abrasive, rude, megalomaniac who does not want to be held responsible for decisions that he took simply because he was in the role of prime minister. And the fact that he gave explanations that don’t stack up against even a modicum of pressure tells us everything we need to know.

O’Neil went on to question Morrison’s excuse that he would have undermined his ministers if he had told the public he held those ministries:

It makes no sense what Scott Morrison has said. He said at the same time this was fully justified but if he made it transparent then it would be a vote of no confidence in his ministers. Both can’t be true at once. I don’t think we need to get into that. It doesn’t matter if minister for home affairs at the time would have been offended or not. We had a fundamental corrosion of our democracy because we had one person responsibility for our portfolio and we didn’t know about that. Minister for home affairs Clare O’Neil. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 02.41 EDT

Scott Morrison’s appointments wouldn’t have been secret in a republic, says Thistlethwaite

Assistant Minister for the republic, Matthew Thistlethwaite, told reporters earlier today that if Australia was a republic, that none of Scott Morrison’s secret appointments would have been hidden.

Thistlethwaite declined to criticise governor general David Hurley for his actions, but said it highlights the need for a discussion on a future Australian head of state:

The role of the governor general is to accept the advice of the prime minister, and there’ll no doubt be further discussion about that role, and what the governor general knew and whether or not he should have told the Australian people about that.

But in my view, it highlights the importance of us having a discussion in the future about having an Australian as our head of state, and someone who acts on behalf of the Australian people.

Maybe then we can get more transparency and accountability in decisions such as this.

Assistant Minister for the republic, Matthew Thistlethwaite. Photograph: Brendon Thorne/AAP

Updated at 02.27 EDT

Deputy NSW Labor leader Prue Car says she is recovering after surgery for cancer

Car announced via Twitter that she has had a successful major surgery to remove a large tumour on her kidney.

Car, who is the member for Londonderry, says she is currently at home recovering, and said her recovery will guide when she returns from leave:

Updated at 02.05 EDT

Australia’s Covid vaccine rollout only ‘partly effective’, report finds

The Australian National Audit Office has released a report into Australia’s Covid-19 vaccination rollout, finding it was only “partly effective” and failed to meet targets for vulnerable populations.

It said:

While 90% of the eligible Australian population was vaccinated by the end of 2021, the planning and implementation of the vaccine rollout to priority groups was not as effective.

And:

Initial planning was not timely, with detailed planning with states and territories not completed before the rollout commenced, and Health underestimated the complexity of administering in-reach services to the aged care and disability sectors. Further, it did not incorporate the government’s targets for the rollout into its planning until a later stage.

And:

While vaccines were delivered with minimal wastage, Health’s administration of vaccines to priority populations and the general population has not met targets. The vaccine rollout to residential aged care and residential disability were both slower than planned, and the vaccination rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has remained lower than for the Australian population.

The ANAO recommended the department undertake a comprehensive review of the vaccine rollout. In its response, the health department “notes that such a review would logically form part of an expected broader review into the Covid-19 pandemic with the timing still to be agreed by government”.

A health worker holds a tray of syringes with the Pfizer vaccine on the opening day of a Covid-19 mass vaccination clinic in Perth on 16 August 2021. Photograph: Richard Wainwright/AAP

Updated at 01.40 EDT

‘Unwise’: Stuart Robert criticises Morrison secret ministries

The shadow assistant treasurer, Stuart Robert, who is one of Scott Morrison’s closest allies in the Liberal party, has criticised his handling of the secret ministries.

Robert told Sky News it was “unwise” for Morrison to be appointed to administer departments without informing his ministerial colleagues.

He said:

No one needs to step down from anything. We seek to be transparent. Scott Morrison has apologised for the lack of judgment, not bringing it to full cabinet, not seeking the counsel of his colleagues – that’s why cabinet government is so good.

Robert said he would’ve advised Morrison to “take it to full cabinet”:

I think cabinet would’ve said: ‘There’s no need for this – we understand the challenges we’ve got. If it does get really out of control, the governor general can swear ministers in very fast.’

Let’s take everyone along and keep everyone informed.

Shadow assistant treasurer Stuart Robert. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 01.36 EDT

Russian embassy must vacate Canberra site in three weeks after lease on new site terminated

The planning authority in Canberra’s parliamentary triangle has terminated the Russian government’s lease for a planned new embassy and ordered it to get off the site within three weeks.

The National Capital Authority has grown increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress on the construction of Russia’s new embassy, which occupies prime real estate in Yarralumla, a wealthy lakeside suburb in Canberra. Russia bought the lease way back in 2008 and had plans approved for its new embassy in 2011.

The NCA, a federal authority that oversees planning and development in some parts of the capital, says the Russian government said the work would be finished within three years. The building still isn’t completed.

The NCA says the unfinished works are now an eyesore in Canberra’s diplomatic precinct. NCA chief executive, Sally Barnes, said:

Ongoing unfinished works detract from the overall aesthetic, importance and dignity of the area reserved for diplomatic missions and foreign representation in the national capital.

Barnes said land for diplomatic missions was limited. She said the NCA had a policy of “use it or lose it”.

The NCA has ordered president Vladimir Putin’s government to get off the site within 20 days.

The Russian embassy is expected to continue to operate from its current location in Canberra.

Updated at 01.19 EDT

Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani with you this afternoon, and a quick thanks to Natasha May for expertly steering us through another hectic day.