The former Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison said today that he decided to secretly take over five key ministries during the covid-19 pandemic because he felt that the responsibility for the nation was his alone.
Morrison, who stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party after its defeat in the May elections, held a press conference to respond to the fierce criticism from the Labour government and his own party following these revelations.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi said Morrison had dealt a blow to the country's democratic governance by secretly taking over the portfolios of the Departments of Home Affairs, Finance, Health, Resources and the Economy between 2020 and 2021.
Three of the ministers responsible were unaware that Morrison had appointed himself co-minister until this week, they said.
«I was driving the ship in the middle of a storm,» the former prime minister told reporters, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. «As prime minister, only I and no one else could truly understand the weight of responsibility I had on my shoulders,» he added.
Morrison explained that he did not «occupy» the ministries, and added that he did not interfere in the work of ministers except on one occasion. He added that he had not informed the ministers because he would only use these powers in an emergency.
Morrison initially took over the health and finance ministries in secret in 2020, explaining that he did so because of concerns that the ministers in charge might be contaminated by covid-19. In May 2021, he appointed himself as Home Secretary and Finance Minister.
The former prime minister explained that he did so because the state budget would be presented in May and because of the ongoing negotiations with the US and Britain on the AUKUS security agreement.
Also in 2021 Morrison took over the Ministry of Resources. This was the only ministry in which he exercised authority and intervened to prevent the approval of a gas exploration plan off the east coast of Australia that was opposed by the local community. Its decision is being reviewed by the judiciary.
«He essentially destroyed our democratic system,» Albanesi denounced today after Morrison's press conference.
