Australian Parliament censures former prime minister

Australia’s Parliament on Wednesday censured former Prime Minister Scott Morrison for amassing secret ministerial powers during the pandemic. Morrison was the Australian prime minister from 2018 through May 2022. He made himself joint minister of finance, treasury, home affairs, and resources between March 2020 and May 2021. Most of the affected ministers were unaware they were sharing their powers with Morrison, but an investigation found that the appointments were legal. Parliament’s current government has promised new laws that would require such appointments to be made public. The censure is only symbolic, but it’s the first time Australia has censured a former prime minister. 

What has Morrison said? Morrison said the appointments were in case ministers became incapacitated during the pandemic. Before the vote to censure, Morrison asked Parliament to consider the unknown nature of the pandemic. He only used his powers once, he said, to block a controversial gas exploration project that would have hurt his party. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Amy Lewis’s report on The World and Everything in It about an Australian organization that shares the gospel with surfers.