Scott Morrison Has Been ‘Censured’ By Parliament – What Does This Actually Mean?

Scomo’s in hot water.

The Albanese Government has brought forward a motion to ‘censure’ former Prime Minister Scott Morrison over his self-appointment of ministries during his time as PM.

Although it sounds similar, a “censure” motion doesn’t mean Scomo will be ‘censored’, but rather it’s an official motion to express a strong opinion of disapproval of a member.

Unlike a vote of no confidence, a censure motion doesn’t enforce any affect – really, it’s just the government expressing their displeasure with Scomo’s actions.

Since the Liberal party lost power in the May election, Scott Morrison has remained in parliament as the Member for Cook but has lost his ministerial power and now sits in the backbench of the opposition.

Censure motions are especially rare in Australian parliament – only two censure motions have occurred in recent years.

Bruce Billson, the former Minister for Small Business was censured in 2018 for not declaring income from a lobbying job he took while in parliament.

More notably, conservative MP Fraser Anning was censured in 2019, for his comments after the Christchurch Mosque shootings.

What was Scomo censured for?

He’s been officially censured for his actions as Prime Minister, which have come to light since Labor came to power.

Morrison appointed himself in secret to multiple ministries, and often didn’t tell the ministers who were already in those positions.

The Government has seen this as an abuse of power and has officially condemned his actions.

The High Court of Australia officially published their investigation into the matter last week.

The Hon Virginia Bell said, “the public did not know something that it was entitled to know” and described Morrison’s actions as “unnecessary” and “corrosive”.

How has Scomo reacted?

Since the allegations surfaced, Morrison has consistently defended himself, and has called the government’s latest move “political intimidation”.

Morrison fronted Parliament today to respond to the censure motion, maintaining that he acted in a lawful and ethical way.

"The Solicitor general found that the authorities established to administer departments in this way were valid and were not unlawful," he said.

"As prime minister, I did not act as Minister, or engage in any cominister arrangements as suggested."

Morrison’s argument is that his actions were made necessary by the COVID-19 Pandemic, but has conceded that his decisions “in hindsight were unnecessary”.

The Liberal Party have also backed up Scott Morrison, referring to it as both a “political stunt” and a “political payback exercise”.

But, Prime Minister Albanese has maintained his government’s position, framing it as an “abuse of power”.

"The fact is that our democracy is precious. There's no room for complacency. We've seen overseas, including with the assault on the Capitol Building in the United States, that we can't take our democracy for granted,” Albanese said.

Because a censure doesn’t have any consequences, not much happens next. In essence, it’s a public condemnation of Morrison, and will hurt his political capital.

Although, we’re not quite sure how much political capital Scomo has after this TikTok came out.