Governor General David Hurley’s busy schedule of public events is on display for all to see.
Key Points:
- The official program of the Governor General, as well as the annual reports of the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor General, are publicly available.
- The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor General is an independent agency
- However, there is no reference to Scott Morrison’s appointments to five ministries in the Governor General’s Program or annual reports.
A glance at the Governor General’s online schedule reveals many public activities, from formal engagements to meetings and phone calls with government officials.
Usually, when a minister is appointed to a position in a swearing-in ceremony, virtual or in person, this is also indicated in his program.
But Scott Morrison’s appointment to five secret ministries is nowhere to be found.
Retired general Hurley found himself at the center of a political controversy engulfing Australia over the past week as it emerged former prime minister Scott Morrison had been sworn in to secrecy in five different ministries, in some cases without telling – it to the colleagues with whom he shared power.
David Hurley has refused to comment further on Scott Morrison’s ministerial appointments. (AAP: Lukas Coch)
A spokesman for General Hurley issued a statement defending his office’s role earlier this week, saying “any questions about secrecy after the governor-general has acted on the advice of the government of the day is a matter for the government previous”.
“It is not the governor-general’s responsibility to advise the ministry or the wider parliament (or the public) on administrative changes of this nature,” the statement said.
“The Governor-General had no reason to believe that the appointments would not be communicated.”
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While General Hurley’s office has said it had no reason to believe Mr Morrison’s appointment would not be announced by the government, the office of the official secretary to the governor-general, which is an independent agency, already reveals a good amount of information. on the Governor-General’s activities, both official and unofficial, in various ways.
The official program sets out many different types of events, including his attendance at the 175th anniversary of the consecration of St John’s Anglican Church and his presentation of the Duke of Gloucester Sash at the National Sheepdog Trial Championship.
The show also reveals some occasions when he has had phone calls with public officials, including a March 30, 2020 phone call with the Independent Monitor of Homeland Security Legislation.
They also refer to some meetings he had with the former prime minister, including four breakfasts with Morrison on 24 July 2019, 11 September 2019, 4 December 2019 and 12 February 2020 .
The Governor General’s program lists instances of meetings between General Hurley and Scott Morrison. (Supplied: Governor General of Australia)
Federal Greens senator David Shoebridge told 7.30 he believed the scope of the publication of the Governor-General’s activities showed his office had more questions to answer.
“Some people may be fascinated to hear when the Governor-General has hosted a dinner party, made a phone call or awarded a dog,” he said.
“I think the Australian public is more interested in who they have appointed under the constitution to act [a] Minister of State”.
David Shoebridge says the Governor General’s office has more questions to answer. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Constitutional experts have suggested that it appears that the appointments were constitutionally valid and have noted that there was no clear constitutional requirement for the Governor General to make such administrative appointments public.
But there are other general requirements for all government agencies to publicly disclose information about their activities in annual reports.
There are no mentions in the annual reports
At 7.30 the annual reports of the Official Secretariat of the Governor General, which have been available online since 2014, have been reviewed.
Under the heading of Constitutional Activities, the independent entity has routinely disclosed the instruments of appointment issued during swearing-in ceremonies.
The office also sets the number of federal executive meetings attended by the governor-general.
In its 2019-2020 Annual Report, under the Constitutional Activities section, the office disclosed that: “On February 6, 2020, the Governor General hosted a swearing-in ceremony to issue the instruments of appointment and the oaths and declarations of office to five ministers and a parliamentary secretary in a ceremony at the House of Government”.
However, the issuance of Scott Morrison’s instruments of appointment to the Department of Health on March 14 and the Department of Finance on March 30, which were not made during a swearing-in ceremony, were not disclosed.
Scott Morrison has rejected calls to resign over revelations he was secretly appointed to a number of ministries. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Similarly, in the 2020-2021 annual report, the Constitutional Activities section discloses the swearing-in ceremonies on October 30, 2020, December 22, 2020, March 30, 2021, and March 22, 2020. June 2021.
The instruments appointing Scott Morrison to the Department of Industry on 15 April 2021 and the Home Office and the Treasury on 6 May 2021 were also not listed.
The official secretary does not appear to have any specific obligation to disclose such instruments in such annual reports.
It also appears that it has not previously done so with other forms of administrative appointments to ministerial offices in the past, and that annual reports are only released when swearing-in ceremonies have taken place.
But Shoebridge believes it raises questions about whether the secretary’s office had any general obligation to make this kind of information public, and whether it would be politically prudent going forward.
“There is little argument that the Governor-General should include these critical constitutional activities in his annual reports – that is part of his obligations under the annual public reporting rules,” he said.
A spokesman for the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General told 7.30: “There is a difference between the Governor-General swearing a minister into office and approving an existing minister to run a department… The cases in question are examples of the latter.”
“How these appointments are communicated is the prerogative of the government of the day.
“The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet is responsible for the process…Questions about the process, including communication within government or more broadly, are a matter for the government of the day.”
The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor General, which is independent of the Governor General, must comply with the Federal Government Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, which requires government entities to prepare annual performance statements.
These statements impose a vague obligation on agencies to provide information about the entity’s performance in achieving its purposes, but do not tell agencies precisely what to disclose in such reports.
A spokesman for the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General told 7.30: “The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General is not responsible for publishing these types of administrative appointments. They are therefore not included in the Office. annual reports”.
The spokesman also referred to 7.30 in the statement made this week and was satisfied with the process that the Prime Minister has put in place to complete.