Ebola threat: Scott Morrison denies pushing for Operation Sovereign Borders to take over response to virus

Updated

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has described reports he is pushing for control of Australia's Ebola response as "complete and utter rubbish".

The ABC has been told Mr Morrison wants his Operation Sovereign Borders team to take control of Australia's response to the deadly virus, with new powers to force visitors from West Africa to be isolated in quarantine.

The nation's state and federal chief medical officers are meeting today to discuss the response.

It comes as foreign affairs officials confirm both the United States and the United Kingdom have asked Australia to send medical support teams to West Africa.

Mr Morrison let his colleagues know he believed he and his department could take on a larger role in responding to the Ebola outbreak.

The ABC's AM program has been given accounts of discussions inside Cabinet's National Security Committee.

Sources said Mr Morrison suggested introducing strict new mandatory quarantine measures for anyone arriving in Australia from Ebola-affected regions of West Africa.

They said Mr Morrison flagged that a hard-lined quarantine approach could be best run by his existing Operation Sovereign Borders team.

One minister told AM the Immigration Minister's approach is "annoying everyone on the National Security Committee because he's not across all the facts on Ebola".

"He doesn't have access to what the chief medical officer is advising the Health Minister," he said.

A source familiar with the Cabinet discussions said the Immigration Minister was frustrated by the approach of the chief medical officer and the way Health Department was advising the Government.

Another senior Coalition source said Mr Morrison's behaviour was "out of control" and his "ego" was "getting in the way of his judgment".

But Mr Morrison has strongly dismissed the claims from his senior colleagues.

"Complete and utter rubbish. There has been no proposal put forward by me or my department for a greater role in relation to Ebola," he told AM this morning.

"We're just simply doing our job and I think Peter Dutton's been doing an outstanding job on these issues.

"He and I have been working closely on these matters and the issue is being extremely well handled."

In recent weeks, two ministers have publicly pushed back on incursions into their portfolios.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop made it clear she would fight any attempt to cut the foreign aid budget and scotched an idea to develop a homeland security department championed by Mr Morrison.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, meanwhile, was adamant he would not let responsibility for biosecurity leave his portfolio.

Topics: diseases-and-disorders, infectious-diseases-other, health-policy, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia

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