Scott Morrison will be investigated by an official inquiry, Anthony Albanese announces

Anthony Albanese has launched an official inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret jobs scandal.

The probe will be conducted by former High Court judge Virginia Bell who will report back to attorney-general Mark Dreyfus by November 25.

Mr Albanese said the inquiry will not have the power of a royal commission to compel witnesses to co-operate but he expects Mr Morrison will do so.

The former PM secretly swore himself in as minister for health, finance, resources, home affairs and as treasurer in 2020 and 2021, without telling the public or Cabinet.

Legal advice to Mr Albanese from the solicitor-general said Mr Morrison’s moves were completely legal but ‘undermined’ the principle of responsible government. 

Earlier this week Mr Albanese sought to get out in front of any suggestions his inquiry is politically motivated.

‘It needs to be not a political inquiry but an inquiry with an eminent person with a legal background to consider all the implications,’ he said on Tuesday.

But Coalition MPs believe the prime minister is pursuing the issue for his own political gain.

Luke Howarth, Liberal MP for Petrie and Shadow Minister for Defence Industry, told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Australians don’t want this negative politics.

‘Anthony Albanese is obsessed with Scott Morrison, which I find disturbing.

‘He needs to get on with governing, stop looking in the rear view mirror and concentrate on his commitments such as reducing power bills by $275 a year.’

Anthony Albanese has sought to get in front of suggestions his inquiry is politically motivated

Mr Albanese said he would make sure all future ministerial appointments are required to be made public.

But he said an inquiry was still needed into ‘how and why’ Mr Morrison’s power grab happened.  

‘Clearly, there is a need to ensure there is absolute confidence in our political system going forward,’ he said on Tuesday.

Mr Albanese has also called a royal commission into the former Coalition government’s robodet scandal which wrongly demanded debt payments from vulnerable welfare recipients.

Comparisons have been drawn to when Tony Abbott called two Royal Commissions relating to the former Labor government.

One examined Kevin Rudd’s 2009 Home Insulation Program, in which four tradies were killed, and the other probed union corruption and included the questioning of Julia Gillard’s former boyfriend from 1990, Bruce Wilson.