Minister of Everything

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CANBERRA ….

Last week’s revelation that Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself ‘Minister of Everything’ while PM, hardly comes as a surprise.

For three years we’ve seen how poorly democratic principles rank with those in Canberra.

Most see democracy as something to be ‘got round’, not protected or upheld.

What was surprising, were the protestations of innocence that flew thick and fast, from all those claiming they ‘knew nothing’ whatsoever about it.

Something I find very difficult to believe.

Even harder to believe is the idea that Morrison came up with the plan himself and then plotted on his own to bring it all about!

And yet that is what we are led to believe.

Of course they admit the Governor General knew, but there’s a huge push on to quarantine Hurley from any suggestion of culpability or blame.

However, serious questions do need to be asked about the role the Governor General played in all these secret ministerial appointments.

Such as why he didn’t consult the Solicitor General or even Buckingham Palace about what Morrison was asking him to do.

He claims it was “not an unusual process” and every ‘constitutional expert’ in the country has been rounded up to back up that claim.

If it everything was as ‘ho-hum’, however, why all the SECRECY?

Even Malcolm Turnbull has said the whole episode is “sinister”, and that Hurley needs to explain to the Australian people exactly what his thinking was at the time.

“The governor-general is not just a rubber stamp. He has a constitution to uphold”.

Turnbull also pointed out that if he had tried to secretly appoint himself to a ministry, “neither the former governor-general Peter Cosgrove, nor his own senior staff would have allowed it”.

There’s no doubt Morrison’s behaviour deserves a Royal Commission, but one that thoroughly investigates all those around him, particularly those in the Executive.

The chances of that happening, though, are pretty slim.

Albanese has ring-fenced his outrage over the incident to Morrison and Morrison alone.

But for many Australians, including myself, Morrison is just the ‘head of the fish’ as far as the whole rotten system is concerned.

There are just too many unanswered – and unasked – questions about the whole story for my liking.

Like why the story was ‘leaked’ in the first place?  We all know the power governments have for keeping things secret nowadays, so why not this?

Here’s another for you.

Has Morrison been cast to the wolves, not for any ‘secret ministries’ he held, but because he recently did the unthinkable and warned Australians that their government and THE UN were NOT TO BE TRUSTED?

Just a thought …