‘Don’t trust in governments’: Scott Morrison delivers Pentecostal church sermon By Lisa Visentin July 18 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...entecostal-church-sermon-20220718-p5b2i2.html Scott Morrison has urged churchgoers not to trust in governments, warning it would be a mistake to do so based on his experience in the upper echelons of power. In a sermon to Perth’s Victory Life Centre, the Pentecostal church run by controversial former tennis champion Margaret Court, Morrison encouraged the congregation to put their faith in God rather than the government. Scott Morrison delivered a sermon to Victory Life Centre on Sunday, urging churchgoers to trust in God, not government.Credit: “We trust in Him. We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in United Nations, thank goodness,” Morrison said in the Sunday sermon. “We don’t trust in all of these things, fine as they might be and as important as the role that they play. Believe me, I’ve worked in it, and they are important. “But as someone who’s been in it, if you are putting your faith in those things, like I put my faith in the Lord, you are making a mistake. Firstly, they are fallible. I’m so glad we have a bigger hope.” Morrison attended the service at the invitation of Court to mark the church’s 27th birthday. Also in attendance were former federal Liberal MP Vincent Connelly and former WA premier Richard Court, whose older brother is married to Margaret Court. In a church sermon, former prime minister Scott Morrison said we don't trust governments or the UN because they are 'earthly' and 'fallible'. In the 50-minute address to the congregation, the member for Cook touched on the Coalition’s election defeat, telling the crowd he believed God had a plan for him. “Do you believe that if you lose an election that God still loves you and has a plan for you?” I do. Because I still believe in miracles,” he said to applause from churchgoers. For the majority of the sermon, he talked about anxiety, which he defined as everyday worries that the “oil of God” could assuage. “All of this anxiousness, all of this anxiety ... all of this feeling about the bills that are pouring in, all of this feeling about the anxiety, and then the oil of God, the ointment of God, comes on this situation and releases you, if you will have it, and receive His gift,” he said. Morrison spoke to the congregation for 50 minutes.Credit: Succumbing to anxiety was “Satan’s plan”, he said. “We cannot allow these anxieties to deny us that. That’s not His plan. That’s Satan’s plan.” He drew a distinction between anxiety and mental illness, saying the latter had “very real causal factors”, such as biological issues, which required professional clinical treatment. In a joking reference to the 10 Plagues of Egypt in the Old Testament, Morrison told an anecdote about attending a meeting with former treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who is Jewish, after the nation had grappled with fires, floods, a mice plague and the ongoing pandemic. “One day, it was the National Security Committee meeting of cabinet [with] Josh Frydenberg, [my] great friend. I turned to him, and I said: ‘Josh, I think it’s time we let your people go’,” Morrison said. In the book of Exodus, the God of Israel inflicts plagues on Egypt to convince the pharaoh to set the Hebrews free from slavery. At the end of Morrison’s address, Court took to the stage, telling the congregation: “The Lord certainly has a life for you after politics.” Half a dozen Liberal MPs, including acting Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, declined to comment.
Albanese ‘astonished’ by Morrison’s anti-government comments By Fleta Page July 21, 2022 Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticised his predecessor’s use of a “nonsense throwaway conspiracy line” about the United Nations in a church sermon on the weekend, suggesting it was unhelpful as he tries to rebuild Australia’s international standing. Scott Morrison used an address on Sunday to Perth’s Victory Life Centre, the Pentecostal church run by controversial former tennis champion Margaret Court, to urge the congregation not to put their trust in governments or the United Nations, warning it would be a mistake to do so based on his experience in the upper echelons of power. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.Credit:Flavio Brancaleone Speaking on ABC Radio on Thursday morning, Albanese said he was taken aback by the former prime minister’s comments. “I just thought: ‘Wow. This guy was the prime minister of Australia and had that great honour of leading the government’. And I found it quite astonishing. “It provides some explanation perhaps of why, in my view, clearly he didn’t lead a government that was worthy of the Australian people. I find it astonishing that in what must have been, I guess, a moment of frankness, he has said he doesn’t believe in government. “And the idea that he’s out there and pressing the United Nations button again, I’ve spent the first two months since our election ... trying to repair our international relations. And that sort of nonsense throwaway conspiracy line about the United Nations, I think isn’t worthy of someone who led Australia.” In a church sermon, former prime minister Scott Morrison said we don't trust governments or the UN because they are 'earthly' and 'fallible'. In his first months in office, Albanese attended a Quad meeting in Japan, led a trade mission to Indonesia, addressed a NATO summit in Madrid, and met French President Emmanuel Macron to repair the relationship with the country in the wake of a cancelled submarine contract. He also visited war zones in Ukraine and signed a formal pledge to the United Nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030. When Morrison addressed the congregation, he said they would be “making a mistake” to trust governments or the international body dedicated to maintaining international peace and security. “We trust in Him. We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in United Nations, thank goodness,” Morrison said. “We don’t trust in all of these things, fine as they might be and as important as the role that they play. Believe me, I’ve worked in it, and they are important. “But as someone who’s been in it, if you are putting your faith in those things, like I put my faith in the Lord, you are making a mistake. They are earthly, they are fallible. I’m so glad we have a bigger hope.” Albanese said he believed governments did play a role in people’s lives and living standards. “I say to young people all the time, get involved, because government will impact on the quality of your life, whether you get healthcare when you need it, what sort of education opportunities you have access to, what your standard of living looks like.” Morrison declined to comment on Thursday.
Scott Morrison was secretly sworn in to several portfolios other than prime minister during the pandemic. How can this be done? By Anne Twomey Posted 21 minutes ago It's not appropriate for ministers to be secretly appointed to exercise statutory powers, writes Anne Twomey. (ABC News: Adam Kennedy) Minister to several portfolios, including health, finance and resources. Can this be done? Uncertainty about the facts First, there are inconsistent stories about what occurred. There has been reference to Morrison "swearing himself in" as a minister, when only the governor-general can appoint ministers. It has also been said the attorney-general found a way for the governor-general to be cut out of the process by making changes by way of an administrative order. It is claimed the health minister knew about and supported such action, while the finance minister and the resources minister were unaware. Another news story said the Commonwealth government has presented evidence to court that the prime minister was sworn in as minister for resources by the governor-general on April 15, 2021. It has since been confirmed the governor-general did appoint the prime minister to administer other ministerial portfolios, but no details have so far been provided. The details of exactly what happened, therefore, remain unclear. Can ministers share the administration of legislation? Because the titles and roles of ministers change all the time, statutes tend simply to confer power on "the minister" without specifying which one. Section 19 of the Acts Interpretation Act says that to work this out you should look to the relevant "Administrative Arrangements Order". An Administrative Arrangements Order sets out the matters and legislation that fall within the responsibility of particular departments and their administering minister. For example, during the pandemic, the Administrative Arrangements Orders said the Biosecurity Act was administered by the minister for health in relation to human health and the minister for agriculture in relation to animals and plants. They did not allocate the administration of this act to the prime minister. The governor-general makes Administrative Arrangements Orders on the advice of the Federal Executive Council. The orders are published on the Federal Register of Legislation. No such order allocates the administration of the health, finance or resources legislation to the prime minister. So the only way the prime minister could exercise powers granted by that legislation was if he was also appointed, or acting, as the minister for health, finance or resources. The Cabinet could reach a collective decision about a policy issue — including how a minister's power should be exercised in relation to it — and the minister would be bound by collective ministerial responsibility to act consistently with that decision. But the prime minister alone has no legal power to instruct a minister how to exercise powers conferred by statute on that minister. Can a minister exercise the powers of another minister? Ministers can be struck down sick, go on holidays or be out of the country on business, so there is always a need for another minister to be able to exercise their powers. This is recognised in section 19(4) of the Acts Interpretation Act, which says a reference to a minister in an Act can include a reference to another minister who is acting on behalf of the first minister. But this is usually when the first minister is unavailable. It is therefore different from the scenario of the prime minister simultaneously having the same powers as the ministers for health, finance and resources. Section 34AAB of the Acts Interpretation Act also says that a minister who administers an Act may authorise another minister to act on behalf of the first minister in exercising powers under the Act. The authorisation must be in writing. It is possible this power was used if, for example, the health minister agreed to exercise it. But it would not cover cases where the first minister did not choose to grant such an authorisation and did not know about it. Appointing a minister to administer a portfolio It is the governor-general who appoints ministers to particular portfolios and swears them in. This happens under section 64 of the Constitution. It is ordinarily done publicly when a new ministry is being sworn in. The ministerial changes are then published in the Commonwealth Gazette and on the Federal Register of Legislation. For example, on February 6, 2020, Keith Pitt was appointed as minister for resources, water and Northern Australia. But it does not seem any ministerial change announcement was made for the appointment of the prime minister to become minister for resources in April 2021 (or at least, I haven't yet found it). A spokesperson for the official secretary of the governor-general stated: The Governor-General […] appointed former Prime Minister Morrison to administer portfolios other than the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. This was done by an administrative instrument on the advice of the prime minister. The spokesperson also stated the decision of whether to publicise such an appointment is a matter for the government of the day. Secrecy and transparency Is it appropriate for ministers to be secretly appointed to exercise statutory powers? No, such matters should be notified to parliament and formally published so members of the public can know who is entitled to exercise particular powers. That is why we have Administrative Arrangements Orders and notifications of changes in ministerial responsibility that are recorded on the Federal Register of Legislation. It is inappropriate for such matters to be kept secret — especially if it is kept secret from the Cabinet and from the minister who was formally allocated responsibility for a portfolio by the governor-general. Such a lack of transparency is indicative of a lack of respect for the institutions of government and for the general public who have a right to know how power is allocated. Anne Twomey is a Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney. This piece first appeared on The Conversation.
What Morrison really meant was nobody could trust him, he was projecting his own feelings about himself. Leader of Australia, staunch Pentecostal, setting an example of what it is to be christian.
Albanese poised to probe into Morrison’s ghost ministries Phillip Coorey Political editor Aug 15, 2022 Anthony Albanese is poised to hold an inquiry into Scott Morrison secretly granting himself the health and finance portfolios during the COVID-19 pandemic, and then adding the role of resources minister, so he could overrule the Nationals and block a gas development off the NSW coast. Despite Mr Morrison doing nothing illegal or in breach of the Constitution, the Prime Minister said the secrecy surrounding the moves contravened the conventions of accountability that the Westminster system of Parliament demanded. Former prime minister Scott Morrison took on the portfolios of then-health minister Greg Hunt, then-finance minister Mathias Cormann and then resources minister Keith Pitt without publicly announcing his decision. Alex Ellinghausen “This is the sort of tin-pot activity that we would ridicule if it was in a non-democratic country,” he said. “This isn’t some, you know, local footy club. This is a government of Australia where the people of Australia were kept in the dark as to what the ministerial arrangements were. “It’s completely unacceptable. There’s an absolute need for clear transparency to come through here.” As Liberal leader Peter Dutton distanced himself from the revelations, Mr Albanese was briefed by his department and the Commonwealth Solicitor-General on Monday afternoon and is expected to announce any inquiry decision on Tuesday. Sources said it was unlikely he would bring forward his promised Royal Commission into the Morrison government’s handling of the pandemic, saying that would have to wait until the current crisis had passed. A new book, Plagued, which details the government’s handling of the pandemic, revealed that at the height of the crisis, Mr Morrison, acting on the advice of then attorney-general Christian Porter, effectively appointed himself as back-up finance and health minister. This was in case either Mathias Cormann or Greg Hunt were incapacitated by the virus and Mr Morrison, who was across every detail of the response, could take over. He never used either powers but Mr Cormann never knew he was being shadowed by Mr Morrison. Mr Hunt agreed to the plan, given he had enormous and unchallengeable powers under the Biosecurity Act which would have devolved to his junior Richard Colbeck had he been felled by the virus. Most controversial, as reported by News.com, was Mr Morrison, in April 2021, using the same section 64 of the Constitution to become resources minister. He used this secret power to override the actual minister, Keith Pitt, who wanted to approve a politically sensitive gas exploration, Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, off the NSW coast. Federal court action In December last year, Mr Morrison vetoed the proposal in an ultimately fruitless attempt to save a handful of blue ribbon NSW seats from teal independents. Asset Energy lodged a federal court challenge in June against the Prime Minister’s decision, writing in an affidavit that Mr Morrison “breached the requirements of procedural fairness in that he predetermined the application and the purported decision was infected by actual bias”. As controversy raged on Monday, Governor-General David Hurley, who made the appointments acting on advice from Mr Morrison, said they were made “consistently with section 64 of the Constitution”. “It is not uncommon for Ministers to be appointed to administer departments other than their portfolio responsibility,” he said. But the governor-general said the decision to publicise the appointments was up to the government of the day, not him. Mr Dutton, a senior minister at the time, distanced himself from the affair. He said during the pandemic, the government was planning for “Armageddon scenarios” and he could only assume that fed into Mr Morrison’s logic regarding health and finance. He said the mater with Mr Pitt was “a different case”. Nationals leader David Littleproud criticised Mr Morrison’s actions as a breach of cabinet convention as did Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie. “I think these revelations do bring into question our Westminster system of government, the conventions that underpin how we have confidence and trust in our parliamentary system,” she said. Mr Morrison declined to comment. -with Michael Read
Anthony Albanese reveals Scott Morrison secretly held five ministerial portfolios Kimberley CainesThe West Australian Tue, 16 August 2022 Outrage over Scott Morrison secretly swearing himself into three ministries Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed Scott Morrison secretly held five portfolios during his time in the country’s top job, including home affairs and treasury. After receiving departmental briefings, Mr Albanese announced the former Prime Minister swore himself into home affairs, treasury, health, finance, and the entire department of industry, science, energy and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Albanese said the revelations were an “extraordinary and unprecedented trashing” of Australia’s democracy, and accused the Morrison Government of operating in secret — demanding those involved needed to be “held to account”. He was the world’s first stealth bulldozer. “This has been government by deception... he told us he was a bulldozer and his Coalition colleagues just shrugged their shoulders and cheered him on, not in one election but in two elections,” Mr Albanese said. “Turns out, he was the world’s first stealth bulldozer. Operating in secret, keeping the operations of the government from the Australian people themselves.” The Governor-General signed off on Mr Morrison taking on the five ministerial portfolios between March 2020 and May 2021, under section 64 of the Constitution. Former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews reportedly did not know Mr Morrison sworn himself into her portfolio, and on Tuesday called for him to resign from Parliament. “I am going to ask him to resign and leave Parliament,’’ Ms Andrews told news.com.au. “I have nothing to say to him. This is totally unacceptable for a Prime Minister to behave in this manner undermines everything that a federal government constitutionally should stand for.” The Prime Minister said advice on the legality and legal implications of Mr Morrison’s actions would be available on August 22, and that he would be leaving open the option of a Royal Commission into what occurred during the pandemic. He also said he would consider a range of reforms to ensure future prime ministers and MPs were bound to publicly reveal who was sworn into a portfolio at any given time. I cannot conceive of the mindset that has created this. “I am open to a change of reforms or suggestions but let’s be clear here — this isn’t business as usual,” he said. “I think it’s very clear, here, that the responsibility for this undermining of our parliamentary democracy rests with those people in the Morrison Government, including the former Prime Minister, who were a party to this... I cannot conceive of the mindset that has created this. “t’s an attack on the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy as we know it. And not just Mr Morrison, but others, who were involved in this, need to be held to account.” Mr Albanese said Mr Morrison did not receive additional pay, on top of his salary as the then Prime Minister, for the additional ministerial roles. The announcement of the five portfolios held by Mr Morrison comes just hours after the former Liberal leader broke his silence to defend his decision to appoint himself to multiple ministry roles. “We were dealing with quite extraordinary circumstances, and as a result we had to consider some rather unconventional options,” Mr Morrison told Sydney radio station 2GB on Tuesday. “We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place. None of these, in the case of the finance and the health portfolio, were ever required to be used.” He said the secrecy around the appointments was due to him not being required to act on the roles he took over. “There are specific responsibilities given to the ministers, which will separate the Cabinet and there were quite extraordinary powers being used,” he said. “As Prime Minister, I put steps in place to safeguard those. Should they have to be used then I would have obviously disclosed that, but they didn’t need to be used. “That was only there as a safeguard and it wasn’t needed. If I had to trigger it, then of course we would (announce it).”
Morrison, man from marketing and minister for deception, "she'll be right mate, off to church Sunday, God lets everyone off the hook who asks - the bible says: Ask and ye shall receive!" Simple way to salve your conscience, God'll fix it up matey in a jiffy.
Ex-minister who ousted Scott Morrison from Tourism Australia says he must leave parliament By Anthony Galloway August 28, 2022 https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fed...he-must-leave-parliament-20220826-p5bcyo.html Former Howard government minister Fran Bailey says she forced Scott Morrison out as head of Tourism Australia because of a “complete lack of trust” and has called on him to quit federal parliament immediately. In her strongest criticism of the former prime minister yet, Bailey claimed she felt bullied by Morrison and that he had not consulted her on key decisions as managing director of the nation’s tourism body. Former tourism minister Fran Bailey claims she forced Scott Morrison out of Tourism Australia because she couldn’t trust him.Credit:The Sunday Age “Essentially, it came down to a complete lack of trust – and when you no longer have trust in someone who is the managing director of an organisation, you have to move that person on,” Bailey told The Sunday Age columnist Jon Faine in an exclusive interview. Morrison did not respond to the comments, but those close to him have always said his exit from the tourism body was because of a personality clash between him and the then-minister. Sources also confirmed Morrison reached a settlement with Tourism Australia that included all performance bonuses. Bailey drew a direct link between Morrison’s appointment to five secret ministries and his time at Tourism Australia between 2004 and 2006, saying he portrayed the same characteristics including secrecy, lack of consultation and a “supreme belief that only he can do a job”. She said someone who resorted to secrecy and isolated himself from the rest of the cabinet was “not the sort of person we need running our country”. The former tourism minister said Morrison’s prime ministership had been “a tragedy” for the Liberal Party and the nation. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Friday that former High Court justice Virginia Bell would lead an inquiry into Morrison’s secret appointments and that the probe would look into “how this happened, why it happened, who knew about it”. A report by the solicitor-general released last week found there was nothing illegal or unconstitutional in Morrison’s secret portfolio appointments, but that it was inconsistent with the principle and functioning of responsible government. Bailey said Morrison must leave parliament following the solicitor-general’s findings. “The Liberal Party has to prove to the Australian public that it has listened, it has got the message, and that it is prepared to adapt, just as society is adapting, and changing,” she said. “It can’t do that while Scott Morrison sits on those benches, and is a constant reminder of all of the awful things that happened during the Morrison government.” Senior Liberal figures fear the party could lose the seat of Cook to an independent if Morrison decides to go early in this term of parliament. But Bailey said it was an opportunity for the party to show it can move on from Morrison and preselect a “strong, young professional woman who could do the best job for that electorate”. Morrison’s exit from Tourism Australia in 2006 has long been the source of political intrigue. As revealed in The Age state political editor Annika Smethurst’s 2021 Morrison biography, The Accidental Prime Minister, Bailey felt under pressure from Morrison to release millions of dollars in taxpayers’ cash to fund the controversial “So where the bloody hell are you?” tourism campaign. John Howard, who was prime minister at the time, told the book’s author that Morrison’s exit from Tourism Australia was down to a “personality conflict” with Bailey. Australia’s solicitor-general has handed down a scathing assessment of Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to multiple portfolios. Senior Coalition frontbencher Dan Tehan, who was Bailey’s chief of staff at the time, last year echoed Howard’s comments. “And it’s not the first time we’ve seen a personality clash in politics,” he said. But Bailey has now rejected this assertion, saying “it was simply that he was not up to the job, and I had no trust in him”. Asked why she hasn’t told the full story for 16 years, Bailey said she didn’t see the need initially to tell anyone because it was an internal portfolio decision. “What has changed my mind about giving this interview is that all of those characteristics that make up Scott Morrison: the secrecy ... the supreme belief that only he can do a job, the lack of consultation with those closest to him, those characteristics were evident 16 years ago,” she said. “And perhaps we’re seeing the end result of those now with the loss of the election. Sixteen years, and I think ... it is about time that I actually set the record straight. “It’s not something that I have stewed over for all those 16 years, but I certainly have become very concerned as he worked his way through the ministry, and I was gobsmacked when he became prime minister. Because I knew what he was really like to work with, and I think that’s been a tragedy for the Liberal Party and it has been a tragedy for our nation.” Asked whether she felt bullied by Morrison when he was head of Tourism Australia, Bailey said: “Oh, absolutely, yes”. “He doesn’t have any soft approach. You know, I think he actually said himself in the election that – describing himself as a ‘bulldozer’. Yup, he’s a bulldozer.”