Scott Morrison has issued a lengthy statement to address fresh revelations that he appointed himself to five portfolios while prime minister.

It has been revealed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that Mr Morrison secretly took on the treasury, home affairs, health, finance and finance portfolios in 2020 and 2021.

The arrangement, which a number of party colleagues say was made without their knowledge, allowed him to overrule decisions made by the appointed ministers.

Josh Frydenberg and Karen Andrews, who respectively held the treasury and home affairs portfolios at the time, reportedly only learned Mr Morrison was sworn in through recent headlines.

But Mr Morrison says he didn’t see a point in telling them because ministers in all departments “exercised full control” without any intervention from himself.

“I took the precaution of being given authority to administer various departments of state should the need arise due to incapacity of a minister or in the national interest,” he wrote.

“I also did not wish ministers to be second guessing themselves, … as this was not the intention of putting these arrangements in place.

“I simply wanted them to get on with their job, which they did admirably and I am grateful for their service.”

He said he couldn’t recall which portfolios he had been sworn into earlier today because “there was a lot going on at the time”.

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