Scott Morrison held five secret portfolios during the pandemic, including Home Affairs and Treasury, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed.
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"He [Scott Morrison] 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."
Mr Albanese has fronted reporters in Parliament House after further briefings from his department head on explosive revelations that his predecessor was secretly sworn into multiple portfolios during the pandemic.
Scott Morrison broke his silence on Tuesday morning to defend his decision to appoint himself to the health, finance and resources portfolios .
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It has since emerged the former prime minister also took on aspects of the social services portfolio.
Governor-General David Hurley swore Mr Morrison into the portfolios, but the public and most members of cabinet were never told.
The secret power grab - which Mr Albanese described on Monday as unprecedented - allowed Mr Morrison to override then-resources minister Keith Pitt to reject a contentious gas exploration permit of the NSW coast.
Mr Morrison said he was acting in an "unconventional time and an unprecedented time", but stressed there were safeguards in place.
"Boris Johnson almost died one night. We had ministers go down with COVID," he told Sydney's 2GB radio.
"The powers in those portfolios, they weren't overseen by cabinet. The minister ... in both cases had powers that few, if any, ministers in our federation's history had.
"We had to take some extraordinary measures to put safeguards in place. None of these in the case of the finance and health portfolios were ever required to be used."
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
