Sharri Markson: ScoMo’s week leads to DC
A tough time for the PM should run smoother when he meets President Donald Trump, writes Sharri Markson.
Opinion
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By this time next week Scott Morrison will be the focus of Washington and the world.
He will become only the second international leader after France’s Emmanuel Macron to be feted with a state dinner at the Trump White House.
Morrison’s troubles over the faltering Gladys Liu and naive Aussie bloggers trapped in an Iranian prison will be, at least momentarily, pushed to the back of his mind.
The day will be busy, involving a joint press conference, a formal Oval Office meeting, bilateral talks with Australian and US delegations, a lunch and the black-tie dinner.
Invitations to the dinner are highly sought after, with only 100 or guests on the list.
Likely attendees include Indy 500 winner Will Power, astronaut Andy Thomas and Nicole Kidman, adding Hollywood glamour.
It will be the Joe Hockey show and, no doubt our ambassador to the US will have a hand in the exclusive guest list, ultimately orchestrated by the White House.
Anthony Pratt is planning to take Morrison and Donald Trump on a visit to his Visy factory in Ohio. The trip is not 100 per cent confirmed but is on the cards.
Australia’s richest man has forged a warm relationship with Trump through his multi-billion dollar investment in new factories throughout the US, hiring thousands of workers and creating jobs.
The politically-pragmatic Pratt’s lunch-dates and fundraisers with Bill Shorten all but forgotten and forgiven by the Prime Minister.
The conversation in the Oval Office will include Iran, North Korea, US trade with China and China’s influence in the Pacific.
On the Pacific, Morrison is encouraging not just additional financial commitment but a greater physical US presence to help counter China’s burgeoning influence.
On Chinese trade, Morrison will seek an understanding of where matters are headed and where they are likely to settle. After concerns about damage to our economy, the PM is said to be encouraged by recent White House rhetoric.
Provided it all goes smoothly, the state dinner is likely to be one of Morrison’s high points from his time in office, and is significant for the Australia-US alliance.
The night before Morrison’s departure is the Press Gallery Mid-Winter Ball. For the first time it is on the record, which rules out any repeats of, for example, Malcolm Turnbull’s bolshie Trump impersonation two years ago.
It comes after a tumultuous week in parliament for Morrison — one that has only reinforced his unimpressed view of the media covering Canberra.
The biggest curve-ball for Morrison was, of course, newbie Liberal MP Gladys Liu’s Andrew Bolt interview following revelations she has been a member of organisations linked to the United Front.
Yes, it was a “clumsy” interview but it was also an interview in which Liu dodged the truth.
Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg have now staked their political reputations on the fact Liu is a hardworking Australian who poses no risk to our national security through any Beijing allegiance.
As Labor pummelled Morrison with questions about Liu — questions they knew would be ruled out of order on national security grounds — the Prime Minister and Treasurer flanked her, side-by-side.
The very clear and deliberate implication from this show of support is that Morrison, who pushed the case hard against Sam Dastyari, is confident ASIO does not have concerns about his MP.
As Peter van Onselen reasoned: “Does anyone seriously think Morrison would have gone in to bat as hard as he has for Liu if there were question marks over her allegiance to Australia? Morrison is neither that stupid nor, frankly, that loyal.”
It is a pity the Prime Minister is unable to express his knowledge of her security clearance publicly.
Peter Dutton did so yesterday when, on the set of the Liberal Party’s latest fundraiser, he said: “If the Prime Minister or I had concerns about Gladys Liu we wouldn’t be backing her in the way that we are.”
Of course, this does not mean donation irregularities on Liu’s behalf will not continue to arise, given the dirt on the conservative MP comes from the deeply divided Victorian division of the Liberal Party.
Throw into this mix Liberal defector, Turnbull acolyte and so-called bullying victim Julia Banks, who held Chisholm before Liu.
Banks would have been shocked that Liu won Chisholm — a supposedly unwinnable seat for the Liberals after Banks vacated it.
There have also been briefings from Turnbull supporters that the former Prime Minister pulled out of a fundraiser organised by Liu in 2016 after ASIO expressed concerns.
This doesn’t mean ASIO expressed concerns about Liu — the concerns were more likely to be about others in attendance.
There is a downside to this all for Labor. The way they have attacked Liu — reducing her to tears — risks further entrenching the Chinese Australian vote with the Liberals.
Whether it’s on emissions policy, border protection or an economic platform, Labor is stranded. Anthony Albanese is clearly torn between the conflicting ideologies of his party.
Albanese and Kristina Keneally’s defence of an asylum-seeking Tamil family was, politically, a mistake.
As heartbreaking as it is for that family to be deported, the law is the law. It can't be broken for one family but not for another.
In hindsight it was a mistake — a huge mistake — for Richard Marles instead of Tanya Plibersek to be appointed Deputy Labor Leader.
As Deputy Leader, Plibersek would have been responsible for helping Albanese find middle-ground solutions to policy dilemmas.
Instead, she is free to push for policies that suit her left faction, emboldened by MPs angry she was thwarted in her leadership bid.
Albanese’s authority is suffering. He is out of practice, after spending the past six years pushed to the sidelines by a paranoid Bill Shorten.
But if Labor do not turn their policies around — and turn their backs on the likes of Wayne Swan — they'll be in opposition for the foreseeable future.