Scott Morrison has rolled his sleeves up in first fortnight as PM in Parliament
SCOTT Morrison’s pragmatic style of leadership threatens Bill Shorten’s long run of setting the agenda, writes Sky News’ David Speers.
SCOTT Morrison has cleared his first major hurdle. He made it through his first fortnight of parliament as Prime Minister and his leadership style is fast becoming apparent.
This Prime Minister is already proving to be a more pragmatic leader than his two immediate predecessors, determined to make faster decisions.
Whether it was the Royal Commission into aged care, the tougher jail terms for sticking needles in strawberries or reaching a truce with the Catholic school sector – Morrison has swung into “action man” mode.
This was always going to be a tough two weeks of parliament for whomever emerged as leader. The first week was a mess, but week two saw Morrison shift up a gear.
In both weeks he used the same line when addressing his Coalition colleagues: “when we set the agenda, the boat moves faster”.
He was right to remind his still restless team of this basic political point. Whoever controls the agenda wins.
Morrison appears unafraid of contradicting himself or his ministers — as long as he’s fixing a political problem.
All year he argued the National Energy Guarantee would save us money. Now the NEG is dead.
Three weeks ago, his Aged Care Minister Ken Wyatt was arguing against a Royal Commission. Now one has been launched.
For a year he defended the Gonski 2.0 school funding model and argued against “special deals”. Now a special deal has been done to silence the Catholic school sector.
Labor, quite understandably, points out the hypocrisy each time a policy is reversed. But Morrison appears unfazed.
His predecessors both held onto unpopular policies for too long, despite everyone knowing they had to be dropped.
For Malcolm Turnbull it was big business tax cuts. For Tony Abbott it was a “rolled gold” paid parental leave scheme.
Morrison has been in the job only four weeks, but already it seems he won’t be the sort of Prime Minister who toughs out an unpopular position for too long.
This may frustrate Labor. Bill Shorten long enjoyed being the nimble populist as he squared off against Abbott and then Turnbull.
He railed against Abbott’s budget cuts and Turnbull’s “hand-out” for big business. He was faster out of the blocks in supporting same sex marriage and a Royal Commission into the banks. The Labor leader has been very successful at setting the agenda.
Now Shorten faces a pragmatist who may not be as willing to give him an opening.
We’re yet to see where Morrison will land on health, business tax cuts or climate policy. His first serious offering was this week’s $4.6b funding top-up for Catholic and independent schools. That’s on top of the $2.9b in extra funds they were already set to receive under Gonski 2.0.
The details on exactly how some of this extra money will be spent are scant, but that wasn’t Shorten’s focus. He went straight to the fact there was no top-up for public schools.
He accused Morrison of “ignoring 2.5 million kids at state schools” and called on their parents to stand with him and fight.
This takes us back to a more traditional contest between Labor demanding a better deal for public schools and the Coalition defending extra spending on Catholic and private schools. It will pit Shorten’s “fairness” against Morrison’s “choice” as competing slogans.
The Prime Minister is at least happy to be debating policy, as he tries to keep a lid on internal troubles.
One of those troubles is Ann Sudmalis, who under parliamentary privilege launched a spray against “bullying and back-stabbing” in her local Liberal Party branch.
She’s now being sent to the United Nations in New York for three months along with Labor’s Jenny Macklin, who also happens to be leaving parliament at the next election. Farewell trips at the taxpayers’ expense.
Another internal problem is looming on sick refugee kids. The Australian Medical Association and Get-Up are demanding parliament pass laws to allow children deemed in need of care to come to Australia, just for the duration of their treatment.
Labor is seriously considering adopting the legislation when parliament returns in three weeks. Some Liberal MPs will find it hard not to cross the floor in support.
Scott Morrison has a trophy in his office of an asylum seeker boat bearing the words “I stopped these”. He doesn’t want a break-out in his ranks over the issue now and this week called some moderates in to discuss their position.
The hurdles will keep coming for the new Prime Minister. The next is the Wentworth by-election. Morrison knows a loss to the independent Kerryn Phelps would be a terrible way for him to start in the role. He even skipped a visit to Melbourne last night to see his beloved Sharks play in a preliminary NRL final.
That was another pragmatic decision.
David Speers is political editor at Sky News
Originally published as Scott Morrison has rolled his sleeves up in first fortnight as PM in Parliament