Who will take responsibility for this mess?

LAST week was a shambles for the government, ending with the Wentworth walloping. Trust in leaders is so low that if the PM said rain was wet, you’d stick your hand out to check, writes Michael McGuire.

SO, who in the Liberal Party takes responsibility for this mess?

Or perhaps, more pressing is the question — is there anyone left in the Liberal Party whose judgment you can trust?

Just a few weeks back a majority of Liberal MPs believed more people would vote for the party if Malcolm Turnbull was dumped. That worked out well.

The wisdom of these people was on full display over the weekend in the Wentworth by-election where the Liberal Party incurred one of the biggest ever swings against a sitting government.

And it could have been worse. If the inept Liberal Party plotters that turfed Turnbull had their way and installed sentient lamppost Peter Dutton as PM the smashing would have been even larger.

Independent candidate for Wentworth Kerryn Phelps delivered a massive wallop to the Liberal party, but who among them will take responsibility for the result? Picture: AAP /Chris Pavlich

The concern for the rest of us is that these are the same people who every day are asked to exercise their judgment on serious issues that determine the future of this country. They make policy and vote in parliament on matters that influence the economy, defence, health, education, immigration, climate change, crime, foreign affairs and security.

It’s a long list but at the moment would you trust anyone within the Government to make the right call on whether the sky was blue and the grass green? If Scott Morrison told you rain was wet, you’d stick your hand out from under an umbrella to check.

We all keep talking about the lack of trust in politicians and the political process but there’s no evidence that anyone in Canberra is listening.

Just last week Morrison and the Government embarked on a tour de force of stupidity that it’s genuinely hard to wrap your mind around. Bear in mind this is an outfit that urgently needs to gain the trust and respect of the Australian people.

After the run he had last week, would you trust this bloke to make the right call? Picture: David Swift

His government backed a Senate motion saying it’s “OK to be white’’, giving a thumbs up to the poor oppressed, brain dead victims of the white-power movement. Then, apparently, having read the motion put forward by notorious non-racist Pauline “swamped by Asians” Hanson, decided to have another vote. You have to wonder whether a few in the Liberal Party had a flashback at that moment and contemplated whether it was possible to reverse the leadership vote.

Then there was the idea of moving Australia’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, to mirror the decision taken by US President Donald Trump. That one didn’t impress our nearest neighbour, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim nation. Then Environment Minister Melissa Price insulted a Pacific neighbour. And to top it all off, Barnaby Joyce wants to come back as deputy PM. Then on Saturday they were walloped in Wentworth.

It’s possible some government somewhere, sometime, somehow has had a worse week, but it’s hard to think of one.

Michael McGuire is a senior writer for The Adelaide Advertiser.

@mcguiremi

Originally published as Who will take responsibility for this mess?