A quick thread on Bridget McKenzie, Scott Morrison and Australia's broken Ministerial Standards
These are Australia's so-called Ministerial Standards. They were issued in a Statement by Scott Morrison when he became Prime Minister in 2018. pmc.gov.au/resource-centr…
The Statement says that "all Ministers and Assistant Ministers are expected to conduct themselves in line with standards established in this Statement in order to maintain the trust of the Australian people."
On page 3, the Statement explains what is expected of Ministers. Notably, "Ministers must act with integrity" ... 
Ministers must also make decisions fairly. They must "observe fairness in making official decisions – that is, to act
honestly and reasonably ... taking proper account of the merits of the matter ..."
honestly and reasonably ... taking proper account of the merits of the matter ..."
Further on, the Statement explains what "fairness" means. Ministers must "observe relevant standards of procedural fairness and good decision making". They must also ensure that decisions are "unaffected by bias or ... considerations of private advantage."
Not to put too fine a point on things, Bridget McKenzie has manifestly breached these standards. As the Australian National Audit Office found, she has not acted with integrity.
The Audit report establishes that establishes that McKenzie acted to subvert the proper process to give out funding in a biased manner, for the private political advantage of the Liberal and National Parties.
To quote the report, “Sport Australia assessed the applications against the published assessment criteria. The Minister’s Office conducted a parallel assessment process using other considerations.”
The Audit report also says that there appears to have been “no legal authority” for McKenzie to make these funding decisions.
This is manifestly a breach of the Ministerial Standards. Putting party political interest before the public interest is a type of misconduct. It is, almost by definition, an integrity breach.
McKenzie has quite openly subverted the procedural fairness of the Sport Australia grants process. She has very clearly *not* taken "proper account of the merits of the matter".
McKenzie has also acted dishonestly. She didn't inform the public she was throwing out the Sport Australia grants process and substituting her own decisions, based on political considerations like which marginal electorates the applicants came from
So by my count, that is at least three clear breaches of the Ministerial Standards. You don't need a lawyer, let alone the Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department, to work this out.
What is Scott Morrison's position on this? Even this week at the National Press Club, he continued to maintain that the government has done nothing wrong.
When asked by the Guardian's @msmarto whether he thought it was wrong, "as a matter of principle", for public funds to be spent on party political gain, Morrison replied that "That is not what the government has done.”
@msmarto Except, of course, as the Auditor-General has found, that is exactly what the government has done.
Why can't Scott Morrison sack Bridget McKenzie? Is it because he can't see that she manifestly breached the Ministerial Standards?
Or is it because Morrison and his office were themselves involved in these rorts?
Or is it because Morrison and his office were themselves involved in these rorts?
/end thread
