Andrew Bolt: Scott Morrison getting desperate as time runs out

Scott Morrison is despised by the Left and disrespected by the Right but while it’s too early to write him off, his latest media stunts make it look like he’s finished.

Peter Dutton, get ready to lead. Prime Minister Scott Morrison looks finished, and is now making a fool of himself to get some love.

Stinking in the polls, called a liar by his own deputy, and mocked as out of touch for not knowing the price of bread, Morrison on Friday hit back.

He called in at a Melbourne hairdresser’s and … washed a woman’s hair.

Excuse me? Perhaps this declared Christian actually meant to follow the example of Christ and show his humility by washing the surprised women’s feet, but couldn’t drag them up to the basin.

So he instead washed her hair. All for the media’s cameras.

It was sad. Would John Howard have pulled such a stunt? Robert Menzies? Margaret Thatcher? Reagan?

This bizarre photo-op showed not just that Morrison is desperate but out of ideas. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

This bizarre photo-op showed not just that Morrison is desperate but out of ideas. It showed he has a dangerously thin skin, and is bleeding.

He’s now been called a liar by the French President, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, one of his (unnamed) Cabinet ministers and now Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who sent a text back when he was fuming on the backbench calling Morrison “a hypocrite and a liar … over a long time”.

A strong leader could perhaps shrug all this off – turn a negative into a positive – by saying it’s the criticism you’d expect when fighting like hell for Australia.

Indeed, Howard as prime minister survived being called “mean and tricky” in a memo by his then Liberal president.

But Morrison cannot stand such criticism. When journalists savage him – as they did again last week – he blusters to justify himself. He doesn’t fire back with both barrels as the infinitely self-assured Bob Hawke did: “It’s a ridiculous question … you are a damned impertinence”.

Policy should of course count for more than smears, but the reality is that Labor now has devastating clips of Liberals attacking Morrison as a liar to run in the election campaign in April and May.

Yes, Morrison has lots to boast about: low un-employment, reasonable growth, a very low death rate in this pandemic, new deals to protect us from China.

Peter Dutton is an in-your-face fighter. Picture: Gary Ramage

And Labor has weaknesses Morrison is yet to properly attack, not least its ridiculous global warming policy that it claims will save you money, save koalas and “create 604,000 new jobs by 2030”. If lies bother you, rage against that whopper.

But here, too, Morrison’s fear of being disliked has hurt him. He runs from the culture wars, runs from real debate on global warming. As the saying goes, this dog won’t hunt. Name one blow Morrison has landed on Labor in six months.

Result: Morrison is not just despised by the Left, but disrespected by the Right. His divided government is a devastating eight points behind Labor in Newspoll, with an election due in May at the latest. If it loses more than two seats, net, Labor could replace it with the help of Left-leaning independents and the Greens. Right now, it looks like losing eight.

It’s early to write off Morrison completely, but is he weaker or stronger than he was when he won that “miracle election” last time, by the skin of his teeth? Liberal MPs know the answer, and must now wonder who should take over as leader – and when.

There are two main contenders: Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Defence Minister Peter Dutton, both capable and successful in their portfolios.

Josh Frydenberg is the ‘safe’ choice but Peter Dutton is the man Labor fears.

The key difference is that Frydenberg is a get-along guy not known to stand for much outside his portfolio; while Dutton is an in-your-face fighter who has called out China, sued trolls for slander and ordered our military to stop fighting for a “woke agenda”.

Frydenberg is the “safe” choice, who could get support from Liberal Left MPs. But Dutton, albeit more divisive, is the man Labor fears. It asks him virtually no questions in parliament.

Dutton must be the Liberals’ next leader, at least if Morrison falls before the election. He is an instantly known quantity. Instantly dangerous.

Of course, the Liberals may well figure it’s too late. Changing leaders this close to polling day would be hugely disruptive and look pathetic, turning near-certain defeat into a rout. What’s more, Dutton would not be keen to be prime minister for just a couple of months, only to lose.

But time’s running out for Morrison. Getting into voters’ hair won’t save him. Only fighting may yet do that, but right now he seems a man with the fight beaten out of him.