CANBERRA, Australia -- The Australian government will launch an inquiry aimed at preventing a prime minister from ever again secretly amassing new ministerial powers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.
Albanese's predecessor Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to five ministerial roles between March 2020 and May 2021, usually without the knowledge of the original minister.
After the revelations, Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue issued legal advice that Morrison had been "validly appointed" in the duplicated portfolios.
But to be appointed without notifying ministers, the parliament or the public was not "consistent with the principle of responsible government," Donaghue said in his 29-page legal opinion, which Albanese released publicly Tuesday.
Albanese, who replaced Morrison at May elections, said his Cabinet had been briefed on Donaghue's advice Tuesday and agreed to set up an inquiry into how to avoid a repeat of Morrison's behavior.
Albanese's office would immediately discuss a plan to publish all future ministerial appointments with the staff of Governor-General David Hurley, who represents Queen Elizabeth II, Australia's head of state.
Such publishing could be enshrined in law to ensure it was "not dependent upon the goodwill of the government of the day," Albanese said.
"What we're dealing with here wasn't envisaged," Albanese told reporters at a news conference.
Morrison, who is now an opposition lawmaker, told reporters last week that he usually kept his extra powers secret because they could be misconstrued. The portfolios were health, finance, treasury, resources and home affairs.
Morrison said his power grab had been an emergency measure made necessary by the coronavirus crisis. But in his only known use of the secret powers, he overturned a decision by former minister Keith Pitt to approve a contentious gas exploration project north of Sydney that would have harmed his coalition's reelection chances.
"I accept that many Australians will not agree with, accept or understand all the decisions I made during those difficult times," Morrison said Tuesday in a statement.
Those who want an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the head of state have been critical of the governor-general's role in the secrecy.
While Hurley was obliged to follow Morrison's advice in rubber-stamping the prime minister's growing list of portfolios, critics argue that a governor-general should have insisted on public disclosure.
Hurley's office said in a statement: "The governor-general had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated."