Proving that truth really is the first casualty of war, Peter Dutton wheeled out the war analogy to excuse the Trump-like rule-breaking of ex-prime minister, Scott Morrison.
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Dutton, who was himself breezily deceived (he was only defence minister after all), described a "war-like situation" in the early months of the pandemic when Morrison had quietly had himself sworn in as a secret health minister.
Others would follow, including resources so he could stop a politically inconvenient gas project - an intervention unrelated to the war (sorry, to the pandemic).
In full damage control mode, Dutton says anxiety was rampant in early 2020 with warnings from health experts that millions could die, especially as no vaccine was in sight.
Nice try but this does nothing to explain the secrecy - unless the war analogy was not an analogy and Morrison believed the virus was monitoring government communications?
Extraordinarily, the PM assumed joint ministerial authority for five different cabinet portfolios and kept it all secret from voters, from the parliament, and even from some of those ministers.
That is beyond contemptible.
READ MORE KENNY:
This unprecedented accumulation of powers under the shroud of secrecy together amount to a severing of the cord of Westminster accountability, running from executive to parliament and from parliament to the people.
Calls for the scalp of Governor-General David Hurley, while understandable, miss the point that the GG has almost no discretion in the swearing-in of ministers - she/he must act on the advice of the Executive Council - essentially the cabinet.
As constitutional expert Professor Anne Twomey notes, it has not been established that Hurley even knew these bizarre extensions to the prime minister's remit were not being made public.
Morrison's conduct was abominable.
Karen Andrews, Morrison's former home affairs minister is understandably ropable, and has called for his resignation from parliament.
READ MORE:
- 'Stealth bulldozer': Scott Morrison held five secret portfolios
- 'Unprecedented trashing': What we know about the Morrison revelations
- 'Oversight': Morrison defends secret power grab as more ministries discovered
- Analysis: Bulldozing in secret, Scott Morrison trashes whatever legacy he had
- Explainer: What did Scott Morrison do and why does it matter?
Morrison offered himself as a centre-right conservative and a safe pair of hands. He was neither. He traduced conventions and thumbed his nose at transparency. The damage cannot be left unattended.
A central feature of the Westminster system is that power is spread across a group of ministers and that plurality is never more critical than in a time of crisis.
With parliament largely shut down, that ministerial autonomy and related Cabinet robustness was the public's last line of defence against tyranny. Yet it was debauched.
Mark Kenny
Mark Kenny is The Canberra Times' political analyst and a professor at the ANU's Australian Studies Institute. He hosts the Democracy Sausage podcast. He writes a column every Sunday.
Mark Kenny is The Canberra Times' political analyst and a professor at the ANU's Australian Studies Institute. He hosts the Democracy Sausage podcast. He writes a column every Sunday.
