Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for McEwen for his question. The decision by the member for Cook to appoint himself to administer five additional portfolios without telling the Australian people—and, in the case of four of the portfolios, without even telling the relevant minister—fundamentally undermines the principles of responsible government that are reflected in the Australian Constitution. And, even worse, this is what the Solicitor-General concluded about this behaviour: 'An unpublicised appointment to administer a department fundamentally undermines not just the proper functioning of responsible government but also the relationship between the ministry and the Public Service.'

Few are in any doubt that the former Prime Minister—

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