A bad week for Scott Morrision, but Daniel Andrews’s was worse

Scott Morrison in Question Time stayed determinedly calm despite provocation. Picture: Sean Davey.

It is easy to see why Scott Morrison has been reluctant to recall parliament. Democracy can be such a nuisance to prime ministers desperate not to get dragged back into the grime of day-to-day politics, and to avoid questions about where they have gone wrong and why in responding to a crisis.

Allegations of branch stacking, the improper use of taxpayer-funded staff allegedly by a frontbencher and a prominent backbencher, a key minister eviscerating himself, distressing revelations from a royal commission about federal government neglect of vulnerable old people, a resurgence of Nationals leadership rumblings, recalcitrant premiers ignoring appeals to open borders and even priests, the very people one assumed would be onside, threatening to boycott vaccines, have all conspired and converged to plague the government and Morrison this week.

No wonder Morrison, in a rather confused presentation on Monday when parliament resumed, appealed to Anthony Albanese not to “partisanise” aged care. Yes, partisanise. Now destined to worm its way into common usage like incentivise, “at this point in time” and “passed away”.

At least the Northern Territory election contained both good news and bad news for Morrison. The good news was it showed popular incumbents can win on COVID-19 alone, if crisis management with the crisis continuing, rather than the recovery, remains the central issue. The bad news is that they can still lose votes and seats, so buffers are essential.

Morrison has no buffer, cannot afford to lose seats and he can’t go to the polls until a year from now, by which time recovery should dominate debate, more so if a vaccine or effective treatment is available.

Joel Fitzgibbon’s warning Labor could split over climate change, and rumbles that Albanese was too tough or too soft, too left or too right, became background noise as Labor sought to make Morrison’s character and competence the issue.

Albanese wants to show Morrison has failed key leadership tests by refusing to sack inept or tainted ministers, has bungled the response to the second outbreak in Victoria, which has claimed hundreds of lives in federally funded and regulated nursing homes, that the funding cuts to aged care he made as treasurer (refuted by Morrison) were responsible for shocking conditions endured in homes and that Morrison was, at heart, still essentially the same person who said during the bushfires “I don’t hold a hose, mate” after he was sprung holidaying in Hawaii.

He has needled and probed every question time this week seeking to build the case, will amplify it on Thursday at the National Press Club, and continue every sitting day until parliament rises late next week.

Morrison has publicly and privately stood by Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck, who has fumbled questions about the number of deaths and infections. Morrison has backed Colbeck at a press conference, at a party meeting, during telephone hook-ups with senior colleagues and in parliament. But he would not be the first prime minister to back a minister then sack him later when the heat is off or as part of a wider reshuffle when it likely will attract less attention.

Whereas Colbeck struggled to remember numbers, Morrison decided to blind us with them. There were fewer virus deaths in nursing homes here than anywhere else, 97 per cent of them were unaffected, most of those affected were in Victoria, and it was so much worse in almost every other country including in New Zealand, despite the misleading comments at the royal commission, all wrapped in an apology that where things had gone wrong, it wasn’t good enough.

With the number of aged-care deaths now nudging 350, families would be within their rights to ask the Prime Minister to please not “semanticise”. Grieving loved ones cannot be consoled or impressed by instant recall on numbers or news that they only comprised an unfortunate 3 per cent. It was jarring.

Around Labor offices they were betting on how long it would take for Morrison to lose his cool. Despite provocation, Morrison stayed determinedly calm.

However, they also remembered that in the Rudd years they had tried to argue 99 per cent of pink batt installations during the global financial crisis had gone without a hitch. Back then four men died. They reckon Morrison focusing on the 97 per cent falls into that trough, becoming embroiled in an argument that is impossible to win. They are convinced it was a massive mistake for him to frame it that way, and that long after the crisis is over, people will remember the 3 per cent who suffered.

Albanese described Morrison’s remark as heartless.

Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar was in trouble over different kinds of numbers that had nothing to do with his portfolio. Revelations Sukkar had endorsed use of taxpayer-funded staff to engage in factional plays have been referred to the Finance Department for investigation while Morrison argued he is too busy dealing with the pandemic to get involved in trying to sort out the vipers’ nest that is the Victorian Liberal Party.

The revelations in this newspaper and others threatened for a few moments to give Daniel Andrews some respite. He took care of that by abruptly seeking a 12-month extension of emergency powers.

It gave Morrison and his ministers licence to separate from him, saddle him with all the blame for what has gone wrong, including in aged care, and infuriated his comrades in Canberra who still refused to criticise him, hoping he would see sense and compromise.

It is an unforgivably dumb approach by Andrews. It will also be unforgivable if these powers have to be used again if a third wave follows the second. It will be more unforgivable still if he doesn’t have every resource assembled and available to do what NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has done to stem any future outbreak without inflicting more misery on Victorians.

The psychological signal alone that his announcement sent, without proper explanation, was devastating. It showed a complete lack of perspective and appreciation of the impact it would have on people.

Morrison, who for months could not bring himself to criticise or even remotely appear to disparage Andrews and rebuked a cabinet minister (Dan Tehan) after he did, says Albanese has a blind spot about what has happened in Victoria because of his failure to condemn Andrews.

It was exactly what Liberals were accusing Morrison of not that long ago, particularly as, according to witnesses, the mutual backslapping continued between them even as late as Friday’s national cabinet meeting.