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Marles: There need to be consequences for Morrison, whatever the legal outcome
Paul Karp
Earlier, the deputy PM Richard Marles told ABC News Breakfast:
Whatever the legal outcome here is, what is really clear is that Scott Morrison treated firstly the Australian people with complete contempt by not making transparent the decisions he was taking in respect of who was running Australia at that point in time, but he’s treated his own colleagues with contempt.
Importantly here, he has treated the cabinet process with contempt. That’s at the heart of the Westminster system. As we go forward, whatever the legal advice, there needs to be some political consequence for a person who has flouted the, really, the Westminster cabinet system so completely.
Key events
Cox criticises Plibersek’s approval of contentious fertiliser plant near ancient rock art
Cox is now responding to the news that the federal government will not intervene to block a controversial $4.5bn fertiliser plant near ancient rock art on WA’s Burrup peninsula.
The environment minister Tanya Plibersek appeared on ABC Radio earlier and said she was following the support of the traditional owner group recognised as the most representative organisation for the five traditional owner groups in the region.
Cox says Plibersek’s decision is “disappointing” and that it’s fair to compare the situation with Juukan Gorge.
Cox says the project endangers the environment and cultural heritage, most prominently its prominent song lines.
You can read more about Plibersek’s approval from Guardian Australia’s environment editor Adam Morton here:
Greens senator says traditional owners need better consultation in environmental projects
Greens Senator Dorinda Cox is speaking to ABC Radio as traditional owners are challenging a massive Northern Territory offshore gas project.
She attended a landmark bush court hearing yesterday at the Tiwi Islands which heard from traditional owners via song and dance.
Cox said two emails and an unanswered phone call did not constitute proper consultation for Santos’ plans to drill in the Barossa gas field.
Gas fitter charged over NSW baby ward death
A man allegedly responsible for a rare gas mix-up in a neonatal ward at a Sydney hospital has been charged with a newborn’s manslaughter and causing serious harm to another baby, AAP reports..
The boy died of severe hypoxemia 57 minutes after he was born in Operating Theatre Eight in the Bankstown hospital on 13 July 2016.
He required resuscitation after his birth and while medical staff believed they were administering oxygen, the boy was given nitrous oxide from the theatre’s neonatal medical gas system, killing him.
The system had also been used on another baby a month earlier, leaving that girl with a permanent brain injury.
The incorrect gas connection was discovered the next week.
Following a coroner’s referral of the case to the director of public prosecutions, Christopher Laurie Turner, 61, attended Bankstown police station on Monday and was arrested.
He now faces charges of manslaughter by criminal negligence and causing grievous bodily harm by a negligent act or omission.
Police allege Turner failed to adhere to the Australian standards when certifying oxygen connections within the neonatal medical gas outlet at the hospital in July 2015.
The gas fitter, according to a court in 2020, signed a form stating he’d tested the Operating Theatre Eight outlets and 100% oxygen was flowing from the pipe labelled oxygen.
A magistrate on Monday granted Turner bail on the condition he report thrice weekly to police, live in a specific address near Lake Macquarie and have someone put up a $10,000 surety.
He’s also banned from contacting prosecution witnesses except through his lawyer.
The matter was adjourned until 26 October to allow the brief of evidence to be served on Turner.
If Morrison saga was playing out in the corporate world, he would have been stood down from job, Christine Holgate says
Former Australia Post boss, Christine Holgate continues to weigh in on revelations former prime minister Scott Morrison secretly appointed himself to the finance portfolio, overseeing her independent review without her knowledge.
Holgate told ABC News Breakfast this morning:
I feel extremely disappointed … To to be told and go through that experience inparliament and then to be told that there will be an independent investigation into you, and then a full Senate inquiry. At no point did I ever know … the arms-length independent review was actually overseen by Mr Morrison as the finance minister. That doesn’t sound very independent to me.
If this had happened in a corporate world, you know, that person would have been stood down for their job. There would be an enormous set of consequences. But unfortunately, this is allowed to take place in parliament, it feels. I think it’s almost incredible. And actually quite disturbing.
Deputy PM commits to closing loopholes revealed by Morrison saga
Understanding Morrison’s actions needs to be ‘starting point’ of inquiry, deputy PM says
The host of ABC RN breakfast, Patricia Karvelas, is pressing Marles on what the scope of an inquiry should look at.
Question:
Should the inquiry should be broadened to include the governor general’s role and that of the public service?
Marles:
The starting point is we need to understand what Morrison did here as the former PM … and look at those other questions subsequently to that.
We also want to understand the legality of this so that we can make sure not only our government but governments in the future operate in a way which is transparent.
Marles: There need to be consequences for Morrison, whatever the legal outcome
Paul Karp
Earlier, the deputy PM Richard Marles told ABC News Breakfast:
Whatever the legal outcome here is, what is really clear is that Scott Morrison treated firstly the Australian people with complete contempt by not making transparent the decisions he was taking in respect of who was running Australia at that point in time, but he’s treated his own colleagues with contempt.
Importantly here, he has treated the cabinet process with contempt. That’s at the heart of the Westminster system. As we go forward, whatever the legal advice, there needs to be some political consequence for a person who has flouted the, really, the Westminster cabinet system so completely.
Consequences for Morrison’s actions are a question for the Liberal party – Marles
The deputy prime minister and minister for defence Richard Marles is speaking to ABC Radio now.
The first question gets straight to the big news of the day – the fallout of Scott Morrison’s secret ministries saga ahead of the public release of the solicitor general’s legal advice.
Marles has previously said he thinks the consequences for Morrison’s actions should be severe, but when asked what that looks like he said:
That is a question for the Liberal party and I want to see what Peter Dutton thinks should be done here.
For someone who has so completely flouted our own system of government, there has to be some political consequence.
NSW pushes to reconsider Covid-19 iso period
A push has been revived for Australia’s leaders to consider cutting the isolation period for Covid-19 cases as the nation’s latest Omicron wave winds down, AAP reports.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has flagged putting Covid-19 isolation back on the agenda when national cabinet is next due to meet on 31 August.
He previously raised shortening isolation from seven days to five, and wants the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, as well as his state and territory colleagues to look at it again as spring approaches.
He told reporters yesterday:
Given where we are we should have a national approach … that’s more beneficial than states going their own way.
The push comes as the latest research published in the journal Nature shows that more than a quarter of people with Covid may still be infectious after seven days “irrespective of the variant type or how many vaccine doses people had received”.
Amy Remeikis
Katy Gallagher heading to Bali to attend G20 conference for women’s empowerment
Katy Gallagher is on her way to Bali for the G20 ministerial conference for women’s empowerment.
It’s the first time an Australian minister has attended this conference in person. That’s because it was established in 2021 (during Covid) and was held in a hybrid format (in-person and virtually).
This meeting will allow Gallagher some bilateral meetings with her Indonesian, EU, UK, Indian and Fijian counterparts and what’s discussed at this conference will form some of us taken to the G20 (also in Bali) later this year.
Gallagher is the third Australian minister to visit Indonesia since Labor won government, following the prime minister and foreign affairs minister Penny Wong.
Sarah Martin
‘We need to have an honest conversation’: health minister to tell workforce roundtable
Ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit, the health minister, Mark Butler, will hold a health workforce round table on Tuesday.
He will tell peak medical bodies, unions and Indigenous health groups that he wants an “honest conversation” about what more can be done to address chronic skills shortages in the sector, listing workforce challenges as a priority in his portfolio.
Butler will say, according to draft excerpts of his speech:
My message to the frontline health workers in this room, is that you walk the wards every day, you know the system and you know where we can do better.
The fact is that if you don’t support skilled workers to deliver healthcare to the community, the health system fails.
Butler said he would be holding a series of meetings over the next two months to “understand what governments can do better” as he forged ahead with a new health workforce taskforce set up with the states and territories.
The challenges ahead of us are not insurmountable, rather many of these challenges present opportunities for us to improve and future-proof our health workforce.
We must get the distribution of the health workforce on track to strengthen the role of primary care and make sure people, no matter where they live, can access the care they need, when they need it.
Butler said while international skilled migration would always be necessary, this was “only one strategy” and more needed to be done to ensure the training and career pathways for the health workforce were set correctly.
We need to have an honest conversation about what else we need to do, to ensure we have the health workers we need in regional, rural and remote areas – tackling the difficulties are complex.
Specifically, providing adequate health worker accommodation and ensuring access to childcare and essential services are key.
There are no easy answers, but we need to take on these difficult issues if we’re to have the workforce we need for our growing and ageing population.”
John Farnham undergoing surgery for cancer
Music legend John Farnham has been diagnosed with cancer.
Farnham’s family has released a statement to say he has been admitted to hospital for surgery and treatment.
The statement also includes words from Farnham himself, taking comfort in the fact that “countless others have walked this path before me” and the excellence of Victoria’s healthcare professionals.
Music legend John Farnham has revealed he’s been diagnosed with cancer and has this morning been admitted to hospital for surgery and treatment. pic.twitter.com/NChs45cGYv
— Monique Hore (@moniquehore) August 22, 2022
Good morning!
The legal advice from the solicitor general of former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five additional ministries will be made public today.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will brief cabinet about the advice before making it public.
Samantha Maiden from News.com is reporting the advice will be “scathing”:
News.com.au has confirmed with senior government sources that are familiar with its contents that the legal advice is sharply critical of the conduct of the former prime minister and will lay the groundwork for a formal investigation into Scott Morrison’s ‘ministry of secrets’.
ABC Radio is reporting Albanese has flagged another investigation is under way by the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The Sydney Morning Herald has reported the results of an exclusive survey showing the Albanese government is enjoying an extended “honeymoon” of post-election support, while the new findings show voters have cut their primary vote support for the Coalition from 36% to 28% since the election.
Ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit, the health minister, Mark Butler, will hold a health workforce round table today.
Let’s kick off!
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