Wednesday 21 September 2022 05:23 AM Scott Morrison held hundreds of secret meetings in Australian parliament trends now
View
comments
Scott Morrison appears to have held hundreds of meetings of a secretive cabinet committee - which he was the only permanent member of.
The-then Prime Minister established the secretive cabinet office policy committee in 2019.
According to Freedom of Information records obtained by The Guardian, from July 2 that year to April 11, 2022, there was an eyebrow-raising 739 sets of meeting minutes.
Critics, including his successor Anthony Albanese and former senator Rex Patrick, claim the 'committee-of-one' allowed Mr Morrison to hold official meetings with anyone and keep them under a 'blanket of secrecy' for 20 years.
Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison (pictured with wife Jenny) held hundreds of meetings he can keep secret thanks to a committee he setup of which he was the only permanent member
Just what the vast majority of those meetings were about - some 665 - are largely a mystery.
Mr Morrison established the committee after requesting his ministers do 'deep dives' on their portfolios, including consultations with interest groups such as corporations, to uncover policy areas that needed to be addressed.
Former Finance Minister Mathias Cormann confirmed he was the 'permanent' member of the committee in a Senate estimates
