Anthony Albanese and Rex Patrick respond to Scott Morrison on secret ministries scandal

Meanwhile, former Senator Rex Patrick has suggested there may be "other things we don't know about" regarding Mr Morrison's tenure as prime minister.

He also called the Governor-General "complicit" in the ministry scandal and questioned the role of senior public servants.

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Mr Albanese demanded his successor apologise to the Australian people for secretly assuming control of five additional portfolios while he was prime minister.

"The first rule of power-grab club is don't talk about power-grab club, and Scott Morrison broke that rule today," he said.

"Scott Morrison was evasive, he was defensive, he was passive-aggressive, and of course he was self-serving. So at least he was true to himself today.

"What we saw was all of his character on full display."

However, Mr Morrison insisted the move had been misunderstood because the public had not "walked in my shoes".

Former Senator Rex Patrick said he was not surprised to learn about the scandal.

"I'm not surprised by what has transpired because Scott Morrison ran the most secretive government in living memory," he said.

"There are probably other things that were done that Australians might feel uncomfortable with that we simply don't know about."

Mr Patrick also said the Governor-General, who signed off on the powers, "has some explaining to do".

"The Governor-General needs to reflect upon his acquiescing to these appointments," Mr Patrick said.

"The Governor-General was in effect complicit to a conspiracy to defraud the parliament, of which he is the ultimate, of which he is sovereign.

"I think the Governor-General needs to reflect on what has happened and and come out and indicate that in similar circumstances, he would not remain silent."

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Mr Morrison described criticisms of General Hurley as "egregious" and Mr Albanese said he would not criticise him.

Mr Patrick said the matter should be referred to the House Privileges Committee for investigation and took aim at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

"I think Prime Minister and Cabinet in particular under the Morrison government was anything but the exemplar department that it should have been," he said.

"It didn't just tune its advice to the political winds, it actually flew a Scott Morrison Spinnaker."

The former prime minister fronted the media on Wednesday, answering questions on his decision to secretly appoint himself to five ministries.

Unbeknownst to the Australian public, and seemingly many of his cabinet ministers, Mr Morrison had himself sworn in as health, finance, home affairs, resources and treasury during 2020 and 2021.

Mr Morrison has said while it was hard for the media and public to understand, he was under immense pressure as prime minister and wanted emergency powers in the event of a "catastrophe".

"I believed it was necessary to have authority to have what was effectively emergency powers ... to enable me to act in the national interest," he said.

Shadow assistant treasurer and former Minister for Employment Stuart Robert told Sky News on Wednesday the ministry grab was "unwise", but did not join his colleague Karen Andrews in calling for Mr Morrison to resign.

"It is unwise, hence why you want to really brief cabinet on all of these decisions [to] get the wisdom of cabinet," Mr Robert said.

"No one needs to step down from anything. We just need to be transparent. Scott Morrison apologised for the lack of judgment in terms of not bringing it full cabinet and not seeking the counsel of his colleagues.

"There's no question that Scott Morrison always believed he was doing the best by the country. This wasn't some adverse grab for power, this was making sure that the nation could govern in inexplicable times."

Morrison's secret ministries

Current Liberal leader Peter Dutton and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce have said Mr Morrison should remain in Parliament.

Mr Albanese has attacked Mr Dutton, saying he is avoiding scrutiny.

"Peter Dutton said very clearly that ... everybody should just move on. It was nothing to see here," he said.

Greens leader Adam Bandt said the move was "the kind of act you'd expect from Donald Trump".

"If this was such a great idea of his, why didn't he make it public?" he said.

Former Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews has previously said Mr Morrison should resign.

"It is unacceptable for a prime minister to do that and basically subvert cabinet processes," she said.

Ms Andrews she was not aware while working as Home Affairs Minister, that she was sharing the role with Mr Morrison.

On Wednesday, independent Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie urged the opposition to make Mr Morrison resign.

NDIS Minister Bill Shorten told Sky News Mr Morrison was a "friendless soul" who ran a "shadow government".

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