Sharri Markson: They only have themselves to blame
Both the Prime Minister and Premier have made missteps during the bushfire crisis, writes Sharri Markson.
Opinion
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The PM has started 2020 in the worst political shape of his prime ministership.
Instead of his carefully cultivated everyman image, many Australians now view the prime minister like the Wizard of Oz’s Tin Man – a leader without a heart.
The question is whether these perceptions of Morrison will cement around him, permanently damaging his leadership, or whether his decisive action in sending in the military and committing $2 billion for the volunteer firefighters and to rebuild Australia will turn public sentiment around.
The Prime Minister’s honeymoon with voters was lengthy, a full seven months. Disappointment was inevitable. However, the last two months for Morrison have been particularly baffling because he had already proven his natural exemplary political judgment and knack for understanding Australians.
So why did he get it so wrong?
There are two underlying reasons for Morrison’s missteps and initial mishandling of the bushfire crisis.
The first was that both him and his office were slow to realise when a mood of concern over his response to the fires had taken hold beyond social media and the Canberra bubble. Critics wonder whether his office was still in post-election party mode, creating a sense of arrogance behind the lies to journalists about where Morrison was holidaying.
The second reason is that Morrison, as a strategist, always looks ahead, constantly planning. This contributed to an oversight for an unexpected disaster unfolding right before his eyes which did not fit in with his wider plan for the start of 2020.
While the minutiae of the Twitter-sphere does not cut through to the general public, the overall impression many voters now have of Morrison is that he lacks empathy and cared more about an overseas holiday with his family than leading his country during a time of crisis.
Compounding this sense of disappointment in our political sphere were the numerous other politicians – none worse than Emergency Service Minister David Elliott – who took holidays during this national disaster.
It is appalling and we have every right to feel let down by our leaders, however the bushfires themselves are not Scott Morrison’s fault.
This is a seemingly obvious thing to write, however this bushfire season has also shown us how journalism and its traditional reliance on facts is being eroded. We are living in a time of lunacy and fictional narratives in the media, so it needs to be said that the worst bushfire season on record is not of Morrison’s creation.
You can blame the Prime Minister for lacking empathy, for making poor decisions, for being awkward in the way he forced people to shake hands, for lying about going to Hawaii, for misreading the mood of the electorate and for taking too long to act and send in the ADF.
But, sorry, you actually cannot blame him for the bushfires.
Nor can you blame his religion.
One of the more appalling lines of commentary to emerge in the wake of these fires is the argument from high-profile, left-leaning figures that Morrison has not acted proactively to stop bushfires because he wants the world to burn and Jesus to return.
One writer, Sarah Wilson of I Quit Sugar fame, wrote: “Most Pentecostals are eschatological, awaiting the second coming of Jesus triggered by cataclysmic events … And so no need to act on potentially cataclysmic, apocalyptic stuff ‘cos Jesus is coming!! … I’m asking myself, as are many, how much of Scomo’s inaction is to do with this hardcore faith. And, if he’s a true believer, where is he leading the rest of us?”
Instead of raging against the Prime Minister for the fires, there needs to be a fact-based examination – a royal commission – into why the bushfires were so bad this summer and how they were managed by the state and federal authorities. We need answers before the winter months, when hazard reduction usually happens.
Just as Morrison seized control of the handling of the situation from Gladys Berejiklian, he needs to seize control of the extent of the hazard reduction that is happening under her Environment Department. No one else is demanding answers of those bureaucrats.
Both the Premier and Environment Minister Matt Kean were unable to answer why hazard reduction targets had not been met when I asked about them in interviews on Sky News at the start of the fire season.
Clearly, in an age where the planet is warming, we need to find out the facts about what confluence of factors contributed to this devastating loss of life, destruction of homes and wildlife.
Climate change, the drought, arson, deliberately lit fires, a failure to meet back burning and hazard reduction targets and mismanagement are all issues that need to be examined.
It also seems that NSW was too territorial when it came to managing the disaster. Presumably to deflect from their own government’s mismanagement, NSW has been sheeting home the blame to Canberra while failing to accept countless offers from Morrison for naval assistance.
While Victoria immediately asked for ADF support, in NSW there was an unorganised civilian flotilla with motorists struggling to get fuel and traffic jams slowing the evacuation. It’s not even worth imagining the horror had the wind changed direction and people were incinerated in their vehicles as they sat bumper to bumper.
Even when the ADF was forced upon the government in NSW, there were objections and arguments about what they could and couldn’t do.
There were even complaints after an army doctor went into a hospital in Bega in uniform to offer assistance because staff were apparently “freaked out” about having people in uniform around.
Comparisons are already being made to the Lindt Cafe Siege where the federal government’s help was resisted by NSW.
It’s telling that some of those overseeing the worst fire season on record do not want any scrutiny and are resisting the move to hold a royal commission.
However, even factual answers to this crisis will not help Morrison politically in the immediate future.
Since the election, a policy-deprived Labor Party’s only political strategy has been to expose Morrison’s true character and tell the public he is not who he seems.
To some extent, Morrison has now done their job for them.
It will test the bounds of Morrison’s political proficiency for him to recast his image after the Christmas period.