Instead,Morrison relied on a solicitor to respond to Bell’s queries,including through a letter this week that warned Bell she would be unable to make any “inferences or conclusions” around national security issues because she would have to rely on incomplete information.
The review by Bell was ordered by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after it wasrevealed in August that Morrison had himself secretly sworn in to administer the departments of treasury,home affairs,health,finance,and industry,science,energy and resources during his last term in government.
Bell’s inquiry shows the extent to which she went to hear from Morrison.
Bell wrote to Morrison on September 19 to “seek his assistance” with the inquiry. She proposed a meeting to hear directly his “account of the facts and circumstances” of his ministerial appointments,saying she could meet him on any date in the three weeks from September 26.
Loading
They did not meet.
On October 4,Bell received a letter from solicitor Ashley Tsacalos who said he was representing Morrison. Eight days later,the solicitor said Morrison’s total memories of the issue were contained in his August press conference and two separate Facebook statements the former PM had made.