Former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pushed back against the federal Labor government’s successful move to censure him in parliament for secretly taking on five ministerial portfolios, calling the move “political intimidation.”
The parliamentary motion of censure for conduct unbecoming of a member of parliament has no legal real-world consequences and serves solely as a way for a parliament to show its disapproval of a member’s actions. It is also used rarely on a non-ministerial member of parliament, also called a backbencher, with the parliamentary website noting it has occurred only twice previously.
