‘Addicted to power’: Scott Morrison attacked by closest ally

One of Scott Morrison’s closest political allies has launched an extraordinary broadside against the former prime minister, accusing him of becoming addicted to power and declaring he should have quit politics almost immediately after his election loss.

Morrison is set to suffer an embarrassing parliamentary rebuke this week for assuming five additional ministries without informing the public, becoming the first former prime minister in Australian history to be officially censured by the House of Representatives.

Alex Hawke and Scott Morrison sit next to each other in parliament, reflecting their longstanding political friendship.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Liberal MP Alex Hawke, a key lieutenant of the former prime minister, said Morrison’s decision to travel to Hawaii for a family holiday during the 2019 bushfires was so disastrous he would have been removed as party leader by his colleagues if not for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Niki Savva, a columnist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, writes in her new book Bulldozed that Hawke is one of several colleagues who believe Morrison treated people badly after his 2019 victory.

“He got addicted to executive authority,” Hawke said.

Hawke despaired that Morrison “didn’t really take advice from people” and said: “He wasn’t the greatest listener.”

Hawke, a NSW Liberal heavyweight who counted numbers for Morrison in his 2018 leadership tilt, sits next to Morrison in parliament, reflecting their close relationship. They were seen talking amiably during question time on Monday.

The Coalition has signalled it will oppose the looming censure motion against Morrison, but Savva’s book makes clear that within Liberal ranks, the wounds caused by Labor’s election victory and the former prime minister’s secretive ministerial power grab remain raw.

Savva writes that Hawke believed “Morrison should have quit parliament almost immediately after the election, rather than stay and risk becoming bitter and twisted”.

Hawke said he advised Morrison not to choose Katherine Deves as the Liberal candidate for Warringah, but the former prime minister was determined to select her.

Moderate Liberals believe Deves’ inflammatory views about transgender people made the party appear extreme and cost them votes in inner-city seats.

Savva explores the impact of Morrison’s Christian faith on his prime ministership in detail, writing his colleagues believe it “drove him, made him immoveable, more resistant to logical explanations”.

“I have been mocked every day because of my faith because I am a Pentecostal,” she quotes Morrison telling colleagues after religious freedom laws failed to pass parliament in February.

“I have surrendered this battle to God now. I have said, over to you.”

Announcing a historic censure motion against Morrison on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “The former prime minister wasn’t responsible to the parliament – and through the parliament to the electors – to the departments that he was appointed to administer.

“And that had [the] real consequence of acting to undermine public confidence in government and were corrosive of trust in government.”

Manager of opposition business Paul Fletcher indicated the opposition would not support the censure motion, labelling it a “political stunt”.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer left open the possibility she could cross the floor to censure Morrison, saying she was considering her position.

Hawke told Savva he believed Morrison would “probably” have won another term if he had called an early election in 2021 rather than wait until May this year.

This would have allowed Morrison to face voters before anger erupted at a shortage of rapid antigen tests and the “teal” candidates consolidated their appeal in inner-city Sydney and Melbourne.

“It was ridiculous to think we would have a good summer,” Hawke said.

“The rule is, go when you think you can win.”

Savva writes that former employment minister Stuart Robert, another close Morrison ally, told colleagues from “both sides of politics” that Morrison refused to sign off on a $600 million skills package for NSW because he hated the state’s Liberal treasurer Matt Kean.

Robert told Savva he could not remember saying this, but multiple sources said they recalled him making the claim.

Savva approached Morrison twice seeking an interview for the book, which is published on December 1, and was refused.

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