Government witch-hunt may come back to haunt PM

Henry Ergas (“Show trial no way to learn pandemic’s lessons”, 26/8) is right to say that Scott Morrison’s actions during the Covid crisis that are now the subject of review pale into insignificance against the Covid actions of Daniel Andrews and other premiers. As Ergas points out, Anthony Albanese ignores the lessons of history in going after his Coalition predecessor’s sins while turning a blind eye to the sins of his own state Labor colleagues.

Albanese would do well to heed the wise words of Roman emperor philosopher Marcus Aurelius: “It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own.” Albanese should be careful. Damning his predecessor with a virtue-signalling witch-hunt review mentality instead of getting on with the job of good governance tars him with the same brush and may come back to haunt him.

John Bell, Heidelberg Heights, Vic

I expect few of us have read The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire but know Rome’s demise was brought about by progressive fools, so it was apt that Henry Ergas used it as a corollary for the path we seem to be drawn down by woke social trends and the government’s rear-facing attention.

Peter Watt, Elizabeth Bay, NSW

The piece by Henry Ergas should be compulsory reading by all who promote pointscoring and belittling at the expense of learning from disruptive events. Wisdom indeed.

David Parker, Cleveland, Qld

In their rather confected angst about Morrison’s multiple ministries, some Australians are taking the glass-half-empty view. Morrison’s actions have pointed out, albeit rather weirdly but quite benignly, that it is possible under Australian law for one person to concentrate all ministerial power into themselves. This, of course, is exactly what happens in some so-called democracies, leading to absolute power and, in the end, effectively dictatorships – it’s not hard to find some examples.

It would have been entirely possible for Gough Whitlam to decide not to appoint any ministers and continue to concentrate power in himself. But neither he nor Morrison did so. So, if we suspect that one of us in the future will not act with the propriety that these two prime ministers did, let’s simply close the loophole, lose the angst and move on.

Peter Thornton, Killara, NSW

Cameron Milner is correct describing Albanese’s rear-mirror obsession (“Labor fixated on rear view instead of the road ahead”, 26/8). The PM hasn’t yet stepped into the statesmanship of being a true leader for our country; instead he scurries to his natural home of student politics and “fighting Tories”. Milner is also correct asking: where are the Bob Hawkes, Paul Keatings and Bill Keltys of the Labor Party? Times have changed. Gone is the conviction to tell truths in case it affects the next Newspoll. Best play it safe.

Lynda Morrison, Bicton, WA

Digesting daily fourth estate commentary is akin to devouring fairy floss on an empty stomach in comparison to the weekly gourmet concoctions of Henry Ergas.

Once again in all the sound and fury surrounding the travails of Scott Morrison and the public pillorying of the man himself by a vengeful Labor Party, Ergas brings to the turgid town square an increasingly rare and precious commodity – perspective. I doubt that Anthony “Tory Slayer” Albanese is any man’s historicist, but before he embarks on his next deep dive into the dark excesses of the previous Liberal government he should avail himself of the writings of Pliny the Younger and Historia Augusta as quoted by Ergas.

The phrase “the great events which honoured the condemned were ignored or suppressed, since the denigrators only wanted to vaunt his faults” will stick in my mind as the salivating dogs of public opprobrium continue to bark at the caravan carrying the carcass of “Morrison the Marauder”.

Ashley Georgeson, Cumberland Park, SA

Are we witnessing the end of the Liberal Party, federally, as a political force? With an approval rate of just 17 per cent in a recent public opinion poll for its current leader, Peter Dutton, it is obvious that the party will need to reinvent itself, in every possible sense, if it is to remain relevant. Dutton is not the man to lead the party out of the political wilderness.

Michael Gamble, Belmont, Vic