Former Liberal advisor David Gazard says he can understand why former prime minister Scott Morrison wanted to appoint himself to additional ministries during the pandemic.
'When states were closing borders and putting caps on quarantine and demanding more RAT tests out of the federal government, the feds had no capacity to move in those areas," Mr Gazard told Sky News Australia.
He said there was frustration that powers weren't 'centralised enough' and the federal government 'couldn't do anything against the excesses of the state'.
'If it was a power grab, it was the most unsuccessful one � he managed to get himself the powers and then not do anything, expect in the case of the offshore oil and gas thing.'
