From Cronulla to Washington, PM Scott Morrison has already polarised opinions
Vox pop by St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, Saturday:
Gavin Kable of Cronulla said Sutherland Shire was excited … “I have lived in the shire all my life and I never thought I would see the day that the local member would be Prime Minister of Australia. We have now won a premiership and have a prime minister from the shire.”
But the Leader found Greg Willmott of Menai was unimpressed:
He’s another clown in the circus. They (the Coalition) jumped up and down when the Labor Party changed prime ministers and now they are doing the same. If they don’t want to be complete hypocrites, they should do the right thing and go straight to an election to give the people a say.
When Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd in June 2010, Scott Morrison tweeted:
Quote from (an) Eden Monaro voter re the Labor government leadership change: “Same smelly feet, different pair of socks.”
Headline in London’s Daily Telegraph, Saturday:
It’s a bloody joke: Australians despair at revolving-door political system.
Columnist for Guardian Australia Van Badham tweeted before the vote on Friday:
So, is it going to be the angry, hectoring right-wing white male psycho who let refugees die, or the quiet, hateful right-wing white male psycho who let refugees die?
US News & World Report quoted Kon Karapanagiotidis, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Saturday:
Today’s news of a new Coalition government under the reign of Scott Morrison spells disaster for refugees and people seeking asylum.
But US News & World Report found Annette Beacher, strategist for TD Securities in Singapore:
PM Morrison is the most market-friendly option, having successfully negotiated through multiple portfolios such as social security, border security, and more recently presiding over a substantial improvement in the budget balance as treasurer. Parliament and the markets will be closely watching post-vote polls to gauge if Morrison can even up the balance towards the Liberal-National Coalition and away from the Labor Party under Bill Shorten. The skew towards the Labor Party at this stage ensures they will form government at the next election.
9news.com unearthed Alix Foster Vander Elst, Greenpeace Australia campaigner:
Make no mistake, Scott Morrison is just a more polished version of Tony Abbott. He has shown over his career that he … will not hesitate to continue selling out the environment at the behest of his mates in the fossil fuel industry. With large sections of Australia in severe drought and being scorched by dozens of mid-winter bushfires, Morrison is a leader the country simply cannot afford.
The Washington Post got ABC radio’s Richard Glover to opine:
Australia has just experienced its seventh change of leader in 11 years. We’re the coup capital of the world. We’re Italy without the pasta. But don’t blame the voters. Many of these (PMs) have not been removed by the electorate. They’ve been thrown out by their own colleagues. Under the Westminster system … the leader’s position rests on the loyalty of his or her own party room — a loyalty that has been in chronically short supply. Australian prime ministers are now like Henry VIII’s wives. A long life is not guaranteed.