Barnaby Joyce says he didn’t know ‘most of’ Scott Morrison’s secret portfolio arrangements

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce insists he was never told the full extent of the then prime minister’s new secret ministerial powers.

Scott Morrison appointed himself to run five departments between 2020 and 2021, which gave him the power to make decisions and overrule ministers if he saw fit.

Morrison used his new secret powers to block the PEP-11 gas permit off the coast of New South Wales rather than allow resources minister and Nationals MP Keith Pitt to make the final call.

Barnaby Joyce on Sunday confirmed that while in cabinet as leader of the Nationals, Morrison did not reveal all the details of the deal to him.

“Over a period of time and discussions of PEP-11 [it] it became more apparent that the prime minister had greater powers than I had originally assumed,” he told ABC Insiders.

“The discussion I had with the prime minister was purely about PEP-11. He never said he had the power to do anything Keith Pitt could do.

“He never told me ‘I was the minister for resources’, he never told me that.

Joyce also noted that Morrison was sworn into the resources portfolio in April 2021, when Michael McCormack was leader of the Nationals, and Joyce did not regain the leadership position until June, when it was too late to intervene.

“Most of them I didn’t know,” he said.

“I found out about it later.”

Decision of political or national interest

The then resources minister, Keith Pitt, was in favor of approving the PEP-11 gas permit, but at the time it faced major opposition that caused electoral issues for the Liberal Party in marginal seats along the coast.

On Wednesday, Scott Morrison said he did not regret making the final call on PEP-11 and insisted it was in the national interest.

“I don’t think anyone who went surfing on the New South Wales coast this week around Newcastle or the Central Coast would have any problem with a Prime Minister who kept his word and considered this matter from first principles, as I was I. was required to do according to the act, which I did without prejudice,” he said at a press conference.

Joyce refused to say whether he believed the decision was political or whether it was made in the national interest.

“This is a question for the prime minister [Mr Morrison] … that’s a discussion you can have with them [the Liberal Party]”, he said.

Mr Joyce also advocated non-intervention in the matter as he believed it could have caused trouble for citizens.

“I had negotiated an additional minister that we were not entitled to… I had negotiated an additional staff member for the National Party that we were not entitled to,” he said.

He said Morrison would have removed a wallet if he questioned the issue.

“I was absolutely sure this would have happened,” he said.

“I have been in politics for about 18 years, I know how it works.”

Albanese points to possible investigations

The current prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has asked the attorney general to investigate whether any laws have been broken and that advice will be given on Monday.

Mr Albanese has also indicated that an investigation could be launched into the former prime minister’s decision to take five ministerial roles in secret, to ensure there is a proper review of what happened.

“I have yet to see a suggestion that anything illegal has happened, but what is very clear is that the conventions have been completely subverted and ignored, and the Westminster system of our democracy has been undermined by the decisions that have been made by the former Prime Minister .” he told Sky News.

“I’m not going to preempt the advice (from the Solicitor General) that we get, but very clearly there needs to be a proper review of what happened here.

“This was an undermining of our parliamentary democracy and what the Solicitor General will advise on are of course the legal issues.”