A top transparency advocate has called for a federal independent commission to investigate former prime minister Scott Morrison's secret appointment to five portfolios, as well as lobbyists.
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Transparency International Australia CEO Clancy Moore described a national anti-corruption commission, which Labor has promised to implement this year, as the "missing piece" in restoring faith in democracy.
Mr Morrison was secretly appointed to the health, finance, home affairs, treasury and resources portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021.
Mr Moore threw his support behind calls for Mr Morrison's actions to be investigated, potentially via the powerful parliamentary privileges committee, to ensure they "never happen again".
He described independent MP Helen Haines' anti-corruption bill, which included public hearings and was blocked by the former government, as a "kind of benchmark" for anti-corruption models.
He also called for the integrity commission to investigate lobbyists, calling the influence of political donations and practice of cash-for-access a "sort of grey corruption".
More details surrounding the appointment of Mr Morrison to multiple portfolios have also come to light, with the Governor-General David Hurley's diary having no mention of him appointing the then-prime minister to the additional positions.
The Governor-General's Program lists in detail the numerous activities of Mr Hurley, including phone calls, official events and luncheons.
However, on each of the five dates Mr Morrison was given extra ministerial power, Mr Hurely's schedule does not mention any meetings with Mr Morrison, raising more questions about how the secret appointments occurred.
In space news, Australian National University mathematicians are studying the impact of space on the human body.
"The purpose of our model is to predict, with great accuracy, whether an astronaut can safely arrive on Mars without fainting. We believe it's possible," one of the researchers, Emma Tucker, said.
The project includes simulating the effects of prolonged exposure to zero gravity on the heart, and whether the human body can tolerate Mars' gravitational forces - which aren't as strong as on Earth - without fainting or worse when stepping out of a spacecraft.
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