Morrison must recharge his batteries for the next phase

Scott Morrison’s attendance at the NRL match between the Cronulla Sharks and Penrith Panthers was greeted with outrage on Twitter. Picture. Phil Hillyard

When he was sacked in July 2006 as head of Tourism Australia after only 18 months in the job, and before he won preselection under controversial circumstances for the seat of Cook, Scott Morrison prepared his curriculum vitae.

It makes for interesting reading, seeing how he saw his defining attributes back then. The first item listed under achievements during his tenure at TA was the controversial So Where the Bloody Hell are You campaign that launched Lara Bingle, which he boasted had boosted tourism earnings by $1.8bn in 2006. It was a big claim, yet the supposed success did nothing to prevent his dismissal, with the then tourism minister, Fran Bailey, instrumental in his removal.

Under professional skills, Morrison nominated: “Leadership, management, strategic planning, marketing strategy, brands, campaigning, issues management, administration, troubleshooting, team building, stakeholder management, negotiation, lobbying/advocacy, research analysis, public relations, communications, policy development, media management, international relations.” Note all the marketing type qualities with policy squeezed in near the bottom.

Then he listed his personal attributes: “Positive, direct, determined, decisive, pragmatic, articulate, passionate, outcome focused, innovative, discrete (sic), personable, motivated, committed, reasoned, analytic, responds to challenges, loyal, works well under pressure.” Command of English good, not perfect.

He listed his personal interests thus: “Church (Hillsong Church, Waterloo), Family, Politics, Reading (biography, travel, history, Australian fiction), Kayaking, Rugby (Randwick, Waratahs), AFL (Western Bulldogs).”

Both the order and content were instructive. His religion came first and that other Aussie religion last, with no mention at all of any NSW rugby league team. Morrison was a late convert to the Cronulla Sharks rugby league team, adopting them after he won preselection for Cook, and so often he looks overly eager to advertise his choice.

Those who have supported teams for decades or been inducted at birth tell me they find this intensely irritating. They reckon he is overcompensating. They certainly don’t feel obliged to flaunt allegiances with scarfs, caps and jackets, worn all at once at every opportunity. But maybe that’s a by-product of marketing.

Still, having adopted the Sharks, Morrison has immersed himself in their fate. The last time he was desperate to go to watch them play was just before quarantine laws were introduced. He had to be talked out of it because of the bad example it would set when governments were urging people not to gather.

Morrison’s decision to go on Saturday to watch his side get thrashed incited outrage on Twitter for daring to seek a few hours respite while Victorians were being treated like lepers. A “Scotty at the footy” hashtag trended and not in a nice way. Those getting stuck into Daniel Andrews defended Morrison and those defending Andrews berated Morrison. Morrison has refrained from criticising Andrews, nor has Andrews criticised Morrison. They need one another.

That did not quell the outrage, a lot of which has been over the top. Some of the criticism of Andrews over the bungles that have reignited COVID-19 has been justified, some not.

There was always going to be an outbreak. There were always going to be mistakes. People — whether politicians or security guards or aged-care workers or carousing or crusading youth — were always going to muck up. The outbreak happened to be in Victoria, leaving legitimate, unanswered questions about why as the virus began its insidious spread around the suburbs and interstate.

NSW businesses, which had been screaming, demanding they be allowed to reopen, and which had months to prepare proper protocols, also failed their customers by not keeping track of movements. The wildly misnamed COVIDSafe app, promoted so heavily by the Morrison government to guard against this, has failed to match the hype and probably fed complacency.

Who would have thought 21st-century technology would fall short at a critical time? So when some bright spark suggests implanting a subcutaneous silicon chip to help with tracing — and you can bet one day they will, particularly if no vaccine emerges — when really pen and paper will do just fine, that will be the time for mass rebellion.

The problem is that even with the very best of intentions, whether the strategy is suppression or elimination, there will be failures.

That fact, and the fear we seem headed back where we began, does not mean Morrison is not entitled to have a few hours off at the footy, that he has to stay at home, beer in one hand, remote in the other, sprawled on a La-Z-Boy recliner watching the tele, keeping everybody company in their misery until every last Australian has been released from lockdown.

The Prime Minister must be allowed at some point to have time off and to spend it as he wishes, so long as he observes the relevant rules, not only on social distancing. He was appropriately upfront in advance about having a few days off, emphasising he would still keep abreast of what was happening. Again, fair enough.

Government leaders, particularly Andrews and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who had to deal with the catastrophic bushfires before the pandemic, have been working under intense pressure every day for months. They have had to make daily life-and-death decisions in a complex environment. Not all of them will be right and not all of them will be executed perfectly. The weight of that worry, the mental and physical stress it imposes, is enough to bring on all kinds of medical issues, for leaders too. It’s not that they should be let off the hook when they get it wrong, but they need to be cut some slack.

It is unrealistic even in normal times to expect governments to solve every physical, economic and psychological problem, fund every handout, provide every conceivable service, pay every debt and do it all without raising any taxes or putting a foot wrong.

Morrison’s greatest challenge, to steer the recovery, is ahead. Next week, he and Josh Frydenberg must provide hope that some semblance of normal life will resume and they know what needs to be done to get the economy and communities through to the other side, vaccine or no vaccine.

It will be anything but easy. Morrison has goofed off before, but right now he is sensible to take a bit of time to clear his head, press the refresh button, then devote himself body and soul to the task. Otherwise that CV will have to be dusted off and recirculated.