An official report has savaged former PM Scott Morrison’s secret self-appointment to multiple ministries. 

The Bell report, released on Friday, found Mr Morrison’s decision to appoint himself to five additional portfolios during the COVID-19 pandemic not only undermined responsible government, but is likely to have been “corrosive of trust in government”.

Mr Morrison is likely to be censured for “usurping” the Australian parliament, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has suggested. 

“I’ve been contacted by parliamentarians already, not just Labor parliamentarians, [who] want the parliament to express a view about the usurping of parliament that occurred,” Mr Albanese told reporters over the weekend.

“You had a shadow government operating in an unprecedented, extraordinary way.

“You had a prime minister who was standing up in parliament and not telling his own side, or not all of his side knew, let alone the parliament as a whole, who held what portfolio and who was responsible for decisions.

“And that undermined, as the Bell inquiry makes very clear, that undermined the faith in our parliamentary processes and there’s a reason why under the Westminster system ministers are held accountable by the parliament.

“It wasn’t possible to hold ministers to account because people didn’t know who the ministers were.

“I believe that the parliament is likely to want to express a view on that and we will have a discussion of it, and we will let you know once that decision is made.”

The report by former High Court judge Virginia Bell also gave some insight into how public servants responded to the then-government’s activities during the pandemic.

It shows considerable back and forth between senior legal minds within government departments, as they tried to work out what the purpose of adding an extra minister would be. 

The report also shows Mr Morrison had wanted a sixth secret ministry, and had papers prepared for it, but it was deemed unnecessary.