PM in a battle to capture middle Australia’s attention
The PM heads into Christmas lagging in the polls and with the deck stacked against him. But he maintains a laser sharp focus on his battle for the hearts and minds of everyday people, writes Anna Caldwell.
John Howard still believes Scott Morrison can win the next election and that’s partly because of the way he talks to middle Australia.
But what help is that if the people aren’t listening?
The PM heads into Christmas lagging in the polls and with the deck stacked against him. But he maintains a laser sharp focus on his battle for the hearts and minds of everyday people.
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I put to Mr Morrison this week that he comes to the leadership with such a depth of experience — having overseen tourism, borders, Treasury, the Liberal Party — what does he need to do better to see this translate at the polls?
His answer was frank. He said he knew the public had stopped listening to the party as they were fed up with the internal politics.
Mr Morrison did not add a truth that we all know — which is that Malcolm Turnbull’s sniping from the sidelines has not helped.
The PM knows full well the carry on of politicians has alienated the very voters he seeks to capture. The people of Western Sydney who are focused on work and feeding family feel forgotten by politicians who focus on themselves.
Mr Morrison told me he hopes his bold intervention to stop sitting prime ministers being knifed will go someway towards showing people the party has learnt its lesson. But he knows he has more to do.
His words about focusing on middle Australia are the right ones, the question is how he captures their attention.
Much has been made of the fierce ideological war that has divided the Liberal Party. Mr Morrison’s remarks about not being captured by the zealots on the left and the right are smoke signal not just to every day voters but also to his party.
There is no time for ideological warfare when government is at stake.
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