Canberra: After an inquiry found Scott Morrison's secret appointment to multiple ministries during the COVID-19 pandemic damaged public trust in the government, the Australian parliament voted on Wednesday to censure the former Liberal prime minister.
Morrison, who was voted out of office in a general election in May, has secretly held five ministerial posts during the pandemic: Home Affairs, Health, Finance and the Treasury.
The nation's lower house approved the historic motion, which was proposed by the government's Labor Party, by a vote of 86 to 50.
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Despite the symbolic nature of the motion, it is the first time that a former prime minister has been censured by Parliament.
Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese argued during the debate in favor of condemning Morrison that "our democracy is precious."
There is no place for complacency. According to Morrison, his actions were legal and required a decision in case ministers were incapacitated due to the pandemic.
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Prior to the vote on Wednesday, Morrison told parliament, "For those who wish to add their judgment of my actions in support of this censure motion, I simply suggest that they pause and consider the following: have you ever Have had to deal with a crisis where the outlook was completely unknown?
Were you able to get each choice right under so much pressure? Morrison claimed that he had only used the authority to sabotage BPH Energy's PEP-11 gas exploration project.
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He agreed with the recommendations made after the inquiry into the appointment, which included legislation requiring ministerial appointments to be publicly announced.