Can Scott Morrison get the work done in time?

ONE week into his new job and the new PM has a mammoth task ahead of him. It’s a gig that no one would envy, not even Malcolm Turnbull, writes Dennis Atkins.

ANDREW Laming can claim travelling allowance for six nights a year staying on Stradbroke Island, which is part of his bayside electorate of Bowman.

This entitlement is listed in the Commonwealth Ministerial and Parliamentary Services, which is a hefty guide to what can get what in terms of everything from salaries to insurance coverage for the prime minister’s spouse. And it’s worth noting this as we ponder the latest addition to the political firmament in Canberra: the special envoy.

We’ve never had them before but now we have two. Former PM Tony Abbott is an envoy on indigenous issues, with some special role in education, and former Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce is a special envoy on the drought.

There’s no official recognition for them, and certainly no extra appropriation for them. Neither should there be.

Assistant ministers, something created in the post war years to help very senior office holders such as the PM or Treasurer, are written into the Constitution and have no mention in the entitlements handbook.

They get no extra money or staff and have to put up with the same Parliament House office space as their backbench colleagues. For them it’s all about the glory. This means any suggestion Abbott or Joyce are going to get something extra from being an envoy is either wishful or conniving.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has a mountainous task ahead of him. (Pic: AAP/Fairfax)

There is no additional entitlement to travel, so neither of these former senior figures will be “getting their wings back” and suddenly be able to fly around the place campaigning for the Coalition — or even doing actual envoy work.

You can bet the Labor Party will be watching just where and when Abbott and Joyce travel, and asking questions in the Parliament if they smell a rort. Perhaps one Victorian Liberal was closer to mark when he laughed off the whole idea as a “posh version of work for the dole”.

This envoy nonsense is just one thing the battered and bruised Coalition Government has to deal with as the fallout of the week from hell works its way through the ranks.

Another lingering and open sore is the question of bullying. Did it actually happen or was it more in the eyes of those who felt bullied?

For every Liberal MP who says they were bullied or knew something who was bullied you can find someone else who says it never happened and these people are imagining things or engaging in mischief.

Regardless, it’s left a sour taste in the mouths of the voters. Labor focus groups held this week found it registering among voters from southern states through to Queensland — and none of what was being said was good news for the Coalition.

Putting the bullying talk to one side, the Liberals have a serious problem in its wake because Julia Banks won’t be standing which presents her marginal seat of Chisholm to Labor as a gift. And if Craig Kelly also walks away from his inner-western Sydney seat of Reid, Labor will be justified in moving that from the “maybe” column to “ours”.

Add those two seats to the four notional gains after the redistributions and the task for Scott Morrison and his squad is exposed as genuinely herculean.

This is before we get to the “Queensland problem” which is what set the whole leadership ball rolling.

This envoy nonsense is just one thing the battered and bruised Coalition Government has to deal with as the fallout of the week from hell works its way through the ranks. (Pic: AAP/Joel Carrett)

The LNP members in Canberra were unhappy a week before things really turned to excrement.

They sent messages to then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying the party was set to lose at least half of its 21 seats north of the Tweed and on a bad day it might be more than that.

The response was one more lecture about how the national energy guarantee was going to save everything. Cats and dogs were kicked from Coolangatta to Cooktown.

This is why people were so keen to get Peter Dutton up as PM, someone they thought would appeal to Queenslanders.

One insider thought Morrison could work in the state if he takes a leaf out of John Howard’s playbook and develops a Queensland strategy from day one — something he appeared to understand when he flew straight to Quilpie at the start of this week.

The election will be held as late as possible — maybe in the middle of next May — and between now and then anyone in Queensland should look outside before they venture outdoors.

You might find Morrison or Bill Shorten in the street — or both.

Dennis Atkins is The Courier-Mail’s national affairs editor.