Australia to make posts public to avoid repeat of power grab

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recommend his Cabinet accept all of the retired judge ’s recommendations at a meeting next week.

An inquiry into former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointing himself to multiple Ministries recommended, on November 25, that all such appointments be made public in the future to preserve trust in government.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would recommend his Cabinet accept all of the retired judge ’s recommendations at a meeting next week.

Mr. Albanese ordered the inquiry in August after revelations that his predecessor Mr. Morrison had taken the unprecedented steps of appointing himself to five Ministerial roles between March 2020 and May 2021, usually without the knowledge of the existing Minister.

The extraordinary power grab came to light after Mr. Morrison’s conservative coalition was voted out of office in May after nine years in power.

His unprecedented moves are seen as part of a wider trend in Australian politics to concentrate power within a leader’s office at the expense of the British Westminster tradition of delegating responsibilities among Ministers.

Mr. Albanese blamed a culture of secrecy within the former government for its leader’s extraordinary accumulation of personal power.

“We’re shining sunlight on a shadow government that preferred to operate in darkness, a government that operated in a cult of secrecy and a culture of coverup which arrogantly dismissed scrutiny from the Parliament and the public as a mere inconvenience,” Mr. Albanese told reporters.