Anthony Albanese will receive advice next week on the legal impacts of Scott Morrison's decision to hold five other ministerial portfolios in government.

The prime minister revealed on Tuesday Mr Morrison had been sworn into the finance, treasury, health, home affairs, and resources and industry portfolios in secret.

An administrative arrangements order signed by Mr Morrison and Governor-General David Hurley on June 28, 2021, also gave Mr Morrison oversight of some social services legislation.

The solicitor-general is due to provide advice on Monday.

"The Westminster system (of government) relies upon checks and balances," Mr Albanese said in Canberra.

"The former government, Scott Morrison and others who were involved in this, deliberately undermined those checks and balances that are so important for our democracy."

Mr Morrison's appointments were made between March 2020 and May 2021.

"The implications are still being worked through. We know there's a legal matter in the issue of resources," Mr Albanese said, referring to the PEP-11 gas project off the NSW coast.

"I'm seeking further advice as to the use of these extraordinary powers by Scott Morrison and other examples of it."

Mr Morrison defended his actions in a 1200-word Facebook post, saying it was a precaution taken during the middle of the pandemic.

"The risk of ministers becoming incapacitated, sick, hospitalised, incapable of doing their work at a critical hour or even fatality was very real," he wrote.

"The home affairs minister was struck down with COVID-19 early in the pandemic and the UK prime minister was on a ventilator and facing the very real prospect of dying of COVID-19.

"As prime minister I considered it necessary to put in place safeguards, redundancies and contingencies to ensure the continuity and effective operation of government."

The prime minister also expressed some remorse over his actions.

"In hindsight these arrangements were unnecessary," he said of the treasury and home affairs portfolios.

"For any offence to my colleagues I apologise."

Mr Morrison says he did not inform most of the ministers about his intervention as he did not want his colleagues second-guessing themselves.

"Ministerial briefs were not copied to me as prime minister in a co-minister capacity. These arrangements were there as a 'break glass in case of emergency' safeguard," he said.

"I also didn't wish ministers to be second-guessing themselves or for there to be the appearance to be a right of appeal or any diminishing of their authority."

Mr Morrison said he took over the resources portfolio to ensure the PEP-11 project was stopped.

"If I wished to be the decision-maker, then I had to take the steps that I took," he told Sydney radio station 2GB.

"I sought to be the decision-maker on that issue because of its importance."

It was the only issue he used his ministerial powers to intervene in, he said.

Former home affairs minister Karen Andrews said Mr Morrison should resign from parliament after "betraying" the Australian people.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg told The Australian he was never informed Mr Morrison had himself sworn in to the portfolio.

A representative of Governor-General Hurley says he followed processes consistent with the constitution in appointing Mr Morrison to the additional portfolios.

"It's not uncommon for ministers to be appointed to administer departments other than their portfolio responsibility," the representative said.

But Mr Albanese did not commit to releasing the instruments or changing the process that allowed the signings to be done in secret without being gazetted or otherwise made public.

"I'm open to a change of reforms or suggestions," he said.

"But let's be clear, this isn't business as usual. Conventions apply to the way our democracy functions."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he did not know Mr Morrison had sworn himself into the cabinet positions, but urged calm over calls for a resignation.

"Frankly, it's time for cooler heads to prevail," Mr Dutton told reporters in Tasmania.

"(The prime minister) sees a political advantage. We're better to wait for that legal advice before you make any decisions about what should occur next."

© AAP 2022

Indigenous people will be able to give evidence about injustices committed against them in Queensland as part of the state's plans to sign a treaty with the state's First Nations population.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said an Indigenous truth-telling and healing inquiry will be set up in response to the Treaty Advancement Committee's final report.

She said the treaty was an historic step towards reconciliation and achieving real outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

"Today we take a giant step on our path towards Treaty with Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples," Ms Palaszczuk told parliament on Tuesday.

"We do this, not as the act of a government but as a community - to confront the past, acknowledge its pain and work together on a brighter future."

Ms Palaszczuk said laws will also be passed to set up a First Nations Institute within 18 months to draft a legal framework for treaty negotiations.

"Treaty is about finding a place where we can face up to our shared history and be truthful about all of it - good and bad - and build a future together where we value, trust, and respect each other."

A Path to Treaty Office will be set up within government to prepare for treaty talks once a legal framework has been drafted.

The government is open to signing either a single treaty, or individual treaties with different Indigenous groups.

An Independent Interim Body with Indigenous and non-Indigenous representatives will be appointed to oversee the treaty process until the First Nations Institute is established.

The body will lead local truth-telling initiatives to "promote a shared understanding" of history in institutions such as public libraries, museums, archives and art galleries.

Ms Palaszczuk will sign a statement of commitment with First Nations leaders at parliament on Tuesday, witnessed by close to 400.

"For many of them, simply being in parliament house will require courage, such is the depth of feeling over government actions like the Stolen Generation," she said.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said it was a momentous day as Australia continued the momentum toward reconciliation.

"We are determined for this process to be more than a symbolic gesture with concrete actions," he said.

It emphasises the importance of understanding, acknowledging and respecting First Nation, Nations peoples culture and knowledge."

Queensland is among a number of states proceeding with treaty negotiations. The Victorian parliament is scheduled to vote on its framework on Tuesday, and the ACT and the Northern Territory are making progress.

South Australia's Labor government had been working towards a treaty, but the process was stopped in 2018 upon the election of a new Liberal leadership.

NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania are not currently working towards a treaty agreement.

The federal government is planning on holding a referendum on a constitutionally enshrined First Nations voice to parliament in its first term.

The Greens are pushing for a truth-telling commission to support Labor's plans, but the government says its priority is to introduce the voice.

© AAP 2022

Explosions rocked an ammunition depot and disrupted trains in Russian-annexed Crimea on Tuesday, the latest such incident in a region Moscow uses as a supply line for its war in Ukraine.

FIGHTING

* Russia blamed saboteurs for orchestrating a series of explosions at an ammunition depot in Russian-annexed Crimea, a rare admission that armed groups loyal to Ukraine are damaging military logistics and supply lines on territory it controls.

* Plumes of black smoke were seen on Tuesday at a Russian military airbase near the settlement of Hvardiyske in the centre of Russian-controlled Crimea, Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported.

* Russia has "no need" to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, its defence minister said on Tuesday, describing media speculation that Moscow might deploy nuclear or chemical weapons in the conflict as "absolute lies".

* Britain said on Tuesday that Russia's Black Sea Fleet was struggling to exercise effective sea control, with patrols generally limited to the waters within sight of the Crimean coast.

* Reuters could not confirm battlefield reports independently.

DIPLOMACY

* Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States on Tuesday of whipping up tensions in Asia, describing a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a "thoroughly planned provocation".

* Finland will slash the number of visas issued to Russians to 10 per cent of the current amount from September 1, Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said on Tuesday, amid a rush of Russian tourists bound for Europe.

* Estonia will remove all public Soviet memorials in its majority Russian-speaking city of Narva, the government said on Tuesday, citing rising tensions in the city and accusing Russia of trying to exploit the past to divide Estonian society.

FOOD

* The ship Brave Commander has left the Ukrainian port of Pivdennyi, carrying the first cargo of humanitarian food aid bound for Africa from Ukraine since Russia's invasion, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Tuesday.

* Ukraine could export three million tonnes of grain from its ports in September and may in the future be able to export four million tonnes from them monthly, Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Vaskov said on Tuesday.

* A third of Ukraine's refineries would not operate in the coming sugar production year due to war and high gas prices, producers union Ukrtsukor said on Tuesday.

QUOTE

"A reminder: Crimea (as a) normal country is about the Black Sea, mountains, recreation and tourism, but Crimea occupied by Russians is about warehouse explosions and high risk of death for invaders and thieves," tweeted Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak. "Demilitarisation in action."

© RAW 2022

An invasive colony of yellow crazy ants has been discovered in Queensland's world heritage-listed far north, spanning an area of 77 hectares.

Authorities discovered the ants during surveillance in July as part of the Wet Tropics Management Authority's eradication program.

Yellow crazy ants are considered in the world's top 100 invasive species and can have super colonies with multiple queens.

They spread in a 'budding' system when the queen leaves a colony accompanied by some workers and sets off across terrain or down a creek to re-establish.

Efforts have seen their population dwindle in Far North Queensland over the past decade but authorities believe the new area can cause significant damage if left untreated.

"This infestation is a significant size and if it remained undetected it had the potential to do a lot of damage to the world heritage area," Wet Tropics Management Executive Director Scott Buchanan said.

"This discovery is an important reminder that while we have made great progress towards reaching our goal of eradication in the region, ongoing surveillance is vital to protect not only the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area but also our local communities and industry."

Yellow crazy ants are known to compete with invertebrates and can decimate bird and insect life in the regions they inhabit.

Authorities will begin the first of five treatment rounds, where the ants are baited with a low dose of pesticide, at the discovered site, in December.

Even though the terrain is on rough country, they are confident the infestation can be dealt with.

"We've been working with local residents to gain access via their properties and we are grateful for the support and assistance that local residents have provided," Senior Technical Officer Gareth Humphreys said.

"Once we have gone through that five rounds of treatment, we'll then go back in and and survey the area thoroughly, a very fine scale, to see what's left."

Treatment and ongoing surveillance to ensure the ants have been completely eradicated can take several years.

© AAP 2022