#THEPLACARD
Opinion: “The Secrecy and Panopticon of National Cabinet”?
By Christian Brown
3 July 2021
Following a National cabinet meeting on Monday evening 28 June 2021, Morrison made a press announcement saying any person of age or job could get an AstraZeneca vaccination after talking to their GP. Queensland Premier Palaszczuk was caught off guard, this decision had not been made at the national cabinet meeting and demanded from Morrison where the decision was made. Was it a coalition cabinet decision or had Morrison used his power as Prime Minister to make the decision (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jun/29/).National? The discussions at National cabinet are protected by Freedom of information laws, with requests by the media documents denied. Morrison’s authoritarian antics are not new and the structure and system of national cabinet, reflects elements of social theorist Michel Foucault Panopticon Theory.
Morrison’s announcement was what Australians know as a captain call in government
Which raises the question, is Australia witnessing the morphing of Australia’s Westminster System with the formation of Australia’s newest political institution, the National Cabinet?
The National Cabinet was formed on 13 March, as an intergovernmental forum comprising of the Prime Minister, the Premiers, and Chief Ministers to lead a unified and coordinated response to COVID-19 across Australia. In responding to COVID-19, the National Cabinet is advised by the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) on non-health aspects of the pandemic, and the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) on medical issues related to the pandemic. The AHPPC and the National COVID-19 Commission are reported to have been made committees of the federal Cabinet by the Prime Minister. On 29 May, Prime Minister Morrison announced that the Council of Australian Governments would be replaced by National Cabinet with the National Federation Reform Council, being at the centre of National Cabinet, initiating a new power-sharing arrangement between Labor and the Coalition. This collaborative approach by Labor and the Coalition is a first, having never worked together as a joint executive previously (https://auspublaw.org/2020/10/the-national-cabinet-presidentialised-politics-power-sharing-and-a-deficit-in-transparency/). Former solicitor and professor of constitutional law Anne, Twomey at the University of law, clarified national cabinet is a subcommittee of federal cabinet, keeping the records of national cabinet discussions secret (www.crikey.com.au/2020/04/21/national-cabinet-secrecy-coronavirus/).
Thus, requests to see national cabinet records can be denied under s 34 of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth). The Department of the Prime Minister has confirmed cabinet documents remain the property of the government, not the department or minister that wrote them. Keeping the documents under lock and key for 20 to 30 years (https://auspublaw.org/2020/10/the-national-cabinet-presidentialised-politics-power-sharing-and-a-deficit-in-transparency/).
Pittacus (c. 640–568 B.C.E.) opined, “The measure of a man is what he does with power,” and Lord Acton perhaps more famously asserted, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely” (1887). Indeed, the concept of power can have decidedly negative connotations, and the term itself is difficult to define.
German sociologist Max Weber defined power. as the capacity to exercise one’s will over others (Weber 1922). (https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sociology/chapter/power-and-authority/).
Australian Prime Minister Morrison’s quest for authority is not new, Peter Lewis of the Guardian has reported on the Morrison government authoritarian mode before. In 2019 the Morrison government was pushing to amend freedom of the press, and right to protest peacefully laws to environmental and other civil society groups, public from protesting against mining projects, like Adani’s Carmichael coal (www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2019/nov/12/the-government-is-in-authoritarian-mode-and-now-is-not-the-time-for-complacency) and a failed attempt to introduce a unconstitutional Freedom of Religion to parliament, if passed would allow religions to discriminate against others. and have already written about at length (Australia’s Traditional Separation of Church and State is in Peril - Daily Clout). News reports of Prime Minister Morrison addressing Australian State Premiers and Territory Chiefs from his national cabinet desk in front of large wide screen TV, reminds me of Social Theorist Jeremy Bentham Panopticon Theory (//www.epsilontheory.com/panopticon/). Morrison Portrayed a strong leader, in powerful discussions with state and territory leaders involving safety and security of Australian’s.
Michel Foucault theorized:
“The Panopticon offered a powerful and sophisticated internalized coercion, which was achieved through the constant observation of prisoners, each separated from the other, allowing no interaction, no communication. This modern structure would allow guards to continually see inside each cell from their vantage point in a high central tower, unseen by the prisoners. Constant observation acted as a control mechanism; a consciousness of constant surveillance is internalized”. (www.moyak.com/papers/michel-foucault-power.html).
Panopticon theory is not limited to use in prisons, hospital wards of the 21st century have a modified panopticon design, with wards are monitored from a central location to observe patients, visitors and surroundings (https://insidethearcane.wordpress.com/category/architecture/hospital-design/).
Social theorists and fans of Michel Foucault Panopticon theory would relish an opportunity to analyse Panopticon theory and the structure of national cabinet and question if Morrison borrowed some elements of the panopticon theory when structuring National cabinet to address the Covid 19 pandemic? Prime Minister Scott Morrison wields authority in the national cabinet war room, summoning the Premiers and Territory Chiefs by secure skype connection, to keeping tabs on them and how they are managing their states and territories through the covid 19 pandemic, quarantine, and vaccination program. Before cabinet meetings, Premiers are transparent with their constituents about the agenda for upcoming cabinet meetings and progress of discussions and of course the Federal government expects the state and territory leaders to freely communicate and be honest, as well. Michel Foucault argues transparency is not about freedom, instead transparency leads to more control over the person is relinquishing, although they think they are in control. Bentham theorized the beauty of panopticon is designed to the control the minds of those within it (www.moyak.com/papers/michel-foucault-power.html).
The logo image is of a panopticon (https://racereport.com/), bear with me for a moment, imagine the Prime Minister is seated in central position and instead of looking at arch of cells, Morrison is looking a curved wide screen tv televising the premier and chiefs through skype to the Morrison. The sociological effect is the premiers and territory chiefs are consciously aware the Prime Minister is observing them and regulate their actions inside the sphere of national cabinet with Prime Minister Morrison seated in the centre wielding his power, like a king seated on his throne.
Australian’s will have their opportunity at the upcoming election to decide if they are accepting Prime Minister Morrison’s authoritarian rise, grip on power and the secrecy of National cabinet, protected by the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth). Communication between the Prime Minister, Australians, states, and territories needs to be clear and open. Outside the panopticon of National Cabinet on Monday Queensland Premier Palaszczuk demanded to know from the Prime Minister who was responsible for a decision announced that was not discussed in national cabinet, going as a far to call it as a captain’s call by the Prime Minister. It remains to be seen if Australia’s identity is transformed.
Well researched and telling of Morrison’s power.