Scott Morrison moves election campaign into top gear

While there was no surprise announcement during Scott Morrison’s trip to Melbourne, his visit sent a clear signal that the campaign is on.

Scott Morrison’s colleagues sometimes liken him to a footy coach, firing up his MPs with motivational speeches about teamwork, self-belief and success.

But on Tuesday morning, in a radio studio in South Melbourne, the Prime Minister found himself on the receiving end of his own brand of positive reinforcement from former AFL star Brendan Fevola.

The one-time Carlton goalkicking gun – now the co-host of an FM breakfast show – wanted to talk about Morrison’s “big dog status”, and whether his first visit to Melbourne in six months was “to spring a surprise election on us this year”.

“You’re absolutely humming, your approval rating is through the roof,” Fevola said, as he encouraged Morrison to go the polls and not “let it drag out too long”.

But the PM replied: “I hope you haven’t put money on that … It’s not on this year, it’s on next year as I’ve always said. Have you been on Sportsbet?”

While it was an awkward retort to someone who had a gambling addiction, Morrison’s answer was also revealing.

Scott Morrison samples products during a tour of Sabrini Foods in Carrum Downs. Picture: Daniel Pockett

Contrary to Fevola’s hype, Morrison’s poll numbers haven’t been too flash at all. Australia’s world-leading response to the Covid crisis – with low fatality rates and extraordinarily high vaccination rates – has not translated into the popular support the PM would like.

The early troubles in the vaccine rollout, extended lockdowns in Australia’s two biggest cities and political pushback from the powerful premiers did significant damage to Morrison’s brand.

Last month’s Newspoll put support for the coalition at the lowest level in three years. Of course Morrison wasn’t going to call a pre-Christmas election – he would probably lose.

That said, while there was no surprise announcement during Morrison’s trip to Melbourne, his visit deliberately sent a clear signal: With the country finally reopening, he is in campaign mode. It may not be officially on, but it’s on.

Morrison visits the Toyota Hydrogen Centre in Altona to unveil a new $250m electric vehicle plan. Picture: David Geraghty

Fresh from a dramatic week in Europe for the G20 meeting and the COP26 climate summit, Morrison’s time in Melbourne was overtly focused on the domestic sales pitch for his government’s long-awaited commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Within coalition ranks, this target caused the most headaches in coal-dependent Queensland, but the government’s policy is also problematic for different reasons in Victoria, once dubbed by John Howard as “the Massachusetts of Australia”.

Pollsters say some Liberal voters in the party’s heartland are suspicious of Morrison’s efforts on climate change, including his refusal to lift Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target.

In a recent focus group with Liberals in Higgins, the inner east electorate where Katie Allen faces challenges from Labor and the Greens, one man complained that the government’s plan lacked any new ideas. He had gone to the trouble of reading the whole document online.

So Morrison went out to Toyota with Allen to refuel a hydrogen-powered car and take it for a spin on a private track. (His staff made sure to check he had a licence – hours earlier, Morrison had told a separate FM breakfast show he was “not allowed to drive as PM because they drive you everywhere”.)

Morrison, with Energy Minister Angus Taylor at the Toyota Hydrogen Centre in Altona to announce the Future Fuels Strategy. Picture: Adam Taylor

The pictures worked for Morrison’s marketing machine on the nightly news, but his words at a press conference revealed his trip had a broader point.

Asked about electric vehicle policies, the PM declared: “I think Australians have had enough of governments telling them what to do … We’ve just been through two years of governments having to tell people what to do.”

It was a theme he repeated the next day at a business breakfast, in a speech ostensibly about his climate plans but ultimately designed to establish his campaign narrative.

Having done four stints in quarantine in the past 12 months, Morrison is keen to make the most of his – and the country’s – freedom.

The PM orders a sandwich in a cafe in Box Hill. Picture: David Geraghty

His political enemies fumed this week as he hammed it up for the cameras by rolling gnocchi, getting a haircut, making spring rolls and snapping selfies in the street.

“We’re in pre-caretaker mode, I think, with Scott Morrison,” Labor leader Anthony Albanese said.

“Always about the spin, never about the substance.”

On Wednesday night, the Prime Minister joined Allen in Higgins again for a few pints and a chicken schnitzel at Prahran’s Mount Erica Hotel.

This time, the TV crews were not in tow as Morrison spent a couple of hours pouring beers and striking up conversations with drug squad detectives, tradies and even a fellow marketing professional.

One of his minders marvelled at the difference between him and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull, who never quite seemed comfortable pressing the flesh.

In yet another radio interview on Friday, Morrison willingly took the “election underdog” tag. But with months to go until polling day, the Prime Minister has plenty of time to do what he does best: campaign.

Originally published as Scott Morrison moves election campaign into top gear