It turns out for much of his time in office, Scott Morrison was more than just Prime Minister.
He took on the powers of five additional portfolios, and did so almost entirely in secret.
So what were these extra roles, and why did he take them on?
Health
The first — and arguably the least-controversial — was duplicating the role of the then-health minister.
On March 14, 2020 — when the uncertainty around COVID-19 was near its peak — Mr Morrison made himself, effectively, a secondary health minister.
The reasoning he gave in a press conference on Wednesday was that the health minister carried incredible special emergency powers under the Biosecurity Act, and some of it was being put to use.
For example, the Biosecurity Act allowed for restrictions to international travel in an emergency.
There was a fear that, should something happen to the health minister — keeping in mind then home affairs minister Peter Dutton had only days earlier come down with COVID-19 — those powers needed to go somewhere and, Mr Morrison said, the thinking was to transfer them to the prime minister.
According to Mr Morrison, the then-health minister, Greg Hunt, was told of the change, as was the then-deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.
However, two weeks later, another step would be quietly taken.
Finance
On March 30, 2020, Mr Morrison also took on the powers of the finance minister, who at the time was Mathias Cormann.
At his press conference, Mr Morrison argued there were "massive financial delegations" available only to the finance minister and — like the health minister — precautions needed to be taken.
The finance minister is different to the treasurer. The former is responsible for the machinery of government, how all the various public service functions work.
It's a big, important and influential role.
They're also responsible for borrowing money. And a lot of money was being spent. March 30, 2020, was the day the JobKeeper program was announced, originally estimated to cost $130bn.
However, incredibly, Mr Cormann was not told that Mr Morrison was also taking on his portfolio.
Mr Morrison has said this week that that was an oversight, and has apologised to Mr Cormann (who is now Secretary-General of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD).
Treasury and home affairs
More than a year later, two more significant appointments were made.
In May, 2021, Mr Morrison took on both the treasury and home affairs portfolios.
Neither minister — Josh Frydenberg nor Karen Andrews — were told, and both have expressed shock and disappointment.
Their portfolios are some of the most senior in government.
The treasurer is responsible for the federal budget, which was delivered only days after the change was made.
That budget outlines how federal government money is spent.
At the time, home affairs had oversight of agencies such as ASIO, the AFP and the Australian Border Force, along with Immigration (the make up of the portfolio has since changed).
Mr Morrison has said he took on the roles as an "administrative precaution", as part of a "belts and braces" approach, and he never considered it likely he would use the powers that came with them.
However, the appointments left him with five of the most powerful roles in the federal government: prime minister, health minister, treasurer, finance minister and home affairs minister — all under his name.
Industry, Science and Resources
The really odd one out among the bunch of ministries that Mr Morrison appointed himself to is the mega-portfolio of industry, science and resources.
Shortly before taking on home affairs and treasury, Scott Morrison made the call to take on oversight of the diverse department.
The reason, Mr Morrison has made clear, was entirely separate to the pandemic.
He wanted to take control of the decision-making process around the extremely controversial PEP-11 exploration licence, which would explore offshore gas supplies between Sydney and Newcastle.
The decision-making power had rested solely with the then-resources minister, Keith Pitt. Mr Morrison wanted to make the political decision, so he took on the powers himself.
He would eventually reject the PEP-11 application, and this week has said this was the only decision he made with any of the additional powers he took on in any portfolio.
And, he has argued, he retained full confidence in Mr Pitt throughout, despite duplicating his powers and putting them to use.
Extraordinary and 'unnecessary' power
Mr Morrison has acknowledged that, with hindsight, most of the changes were not necessary.
That acknowledgement does not extend to the PEP-11 decision, which he is firmly standing by.
The former prime minister insists these were emergency powers, but the emergency never came.
As for the secrecy around the decisions, he has apologised to those colleagues he offended, but also defended that too.
He argued he did not want ministers second-guessing their decisions, or the appearance of a right of appeal above their decision-making capacity.
And, he said, the fact they didn't know was proof that he did not use or abuse those powers.
The pandemic was an unusual and uncertain time, with much of what was done never happening before.
However, for some of Mr Morrison's ministers, having their portfolios adopted and powers duplicated — often in secret — was a step too far.
