A lawyer in the Attorney-General's department questioned the need for former prime minister Scott Morrison to secretly appoint himself to the health portfolio at the outset of the pandemic, describing it as "overkill".
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Emails published as part of Justice Virginia Bell's report into Mr Morrison's secret ministries scandal reveal concerns within the public service about the unprecedented power grab, which was unknown to the public and wider public service at the time.
Mr Morrison appointed himself to the departments of Health and Finance in March 2020, in case the relevant ministers, Greg Hunt or Mathias Cormann, became "incapacitated" during the beginning of the pandemic.
The report found former attorney-general Christian Porter suggested the idea to Mr Morrison in March 2020, proposing it would be "an added check on the exercise of the human biosecurity emergency powers".
Stephanie Foster, then-deputy secretary of governance and APS reform in PM&C, was told the proposal had been discussed by the ministers.
She sought advice from the Attorney-General's Department about a "strong preference" that human biosecurity emergency powers be exercised by the prime minister and not by a junior portfolio minister.
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David Lewis, a lawyer in the Attorney-General's Department who was working on the COVID-19 response at the time, suggested that appointing the prime minister to the health portfolio would be "overkill".
"I don't really see why we are trying to reinvent the process under the act and usual cabinet government, but there you are," he wrote.
In an email a short time later to the then-secretary of Attorney-General's Department, Chris Moraitis, Mr Lewis said "the idea of having the [prime minister] exercise the emergency biosecurity powers seems unnecessary to me. A junior health minister could exercise the powers if Mr Hunt were incapacitated".
Mr Moraitis responded saying it was the government's strong preference to have a senior minister exercise these powers and thus Mr Morrison was "cross-sworn" in a health minister.
The then-PM&C secretary, Phil Gaetjens, viewed Mr Morrison's first two appointments, to the departments of Health and Finance, as "an appropriate safeguard" should the relevant ministers become incapacitated.
Justice Bell found this was "unnecessary" as if a minister was incapacitated, "Mr Morrison could have been authorised to act as minister for health or minister for finance in a matter of minutes".
Briefs prepared by PM&C stated Mr Morrison's other three appointments, to DISER, Treasury and Home Affairs in April and May 2021, were "somewhat unusual".
Mr Gaetjens said there was a "firm boundary" around what the former prime minister sought to do when he appointed himself resources minister and cancelled the PEP-11 gas project.
The former PM&C secretary also formed the view it may have been preferable for Mr Morrison to be appointed to administer relevant departments for decisions he wanted made, rather than "twisting the minister's arm to come to a particular decision".
While Mr Gaetjens saw the appointments as appropriate, Secretary for Public Sector Reform Dr Gordon de Brouwer called Scott Morrison's actions "extremely irregular".
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese criticised Mr Gaetjens, saying there are "questions to be asked about why is it that there wasn't an appropriate handbrake put forward, particularly by the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet".
Justice Bell concluded in her report that it was "troubling" that Mr Gaetjens did not raise the issue of secrecy surrounding the appointments or argue for them to be disclosed to the public, but ultimate "responsibility for that secrecy must reside with Mr Morrison".