Albanese to release legal advice on Morrison's secret portfolios

Advice about the legality of former Prime Minister Scott Morrison secretly appointing himself into five portfolios will be publicly released tomorrow, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed.

The Solicitor General has been asked to discover precisely what happened, how it occurred, and whether there are any legal ramifications.

Albanese has not ruled out further inquiries and reforms to make sure there cannot be a similar scandal in the future.

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Albanese said in a press conference this morning he understood the report had been handed in to his department.

"I intend to release that advice so that people can see it and be transparent about it," Albanese said.

"There hasn't been a suggestion of illegality but there are - there have been questions raised about how this could occur, how it fits in with the conventions and the normal accountability mechanisms and checks and balances that are there in our parliamentary democracy."

The Prime Minister will be briefed about the advice this afternoon and then intends to release it publicly tomorrow.

Morrison has come under fire from all sides of politics following revelations he had secretly assumed ministerial responsibilities across the portfolios of Health, Home Affairs, Resources, Treasury and Finance portfolios.

He has claimed this was done to provide an extra layer of security during the COVID-19 pandemic, should a minister be struck down by the disease.

However, the assumption of different ministerial roles - usually without the existing minister's knowledge - was spread out over a number of months.

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Morrison has said he used his emergency powers only once, to overrule Keith Pitt's approval of a gas project, something he acknowledged was unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Morrison said the secrecy of his actions was necessary in order to not undermine the ministers.

Former Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has called for the former prime minister to leave Parliament after the revelations were made public.

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has declined to join her, saying the process needed to run its course.

Albanese's language on the matter has also been strong, accusing Morrison of a "power grab" and of an "unprecedented" attack on Australian democratic norms.

There has been no suggestion Morrison's actions were in any way illegal or unconstitutional.

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