‘Pragmatic’ PM stumbles over his own frontbench

Linda Reynolds and Marise Payne are at the centre of concerns about frontbench performance. Picture: Graham Crouch

While politics remains consumed by COVID-19, Scott Morrison remains hot favourite to win the next election.

The pandemic rescued and revived Morrison’s prime ministership after it had been so badly singed by his handling of the bushfires that a few of his colleagues believed he would never recover.

Without COVID-19, the year would have drawn to a close with serious questions about his temperament and his judgment. There would have been open discussion of his leadership, similar to that which confronts Anthony Albanese now, and grave doubts about the government’s capacity, under him, to recover.

We know this because every time the story changes from COVID-19 to politics as usual, however briefly, the government flounders or falls short or character traits emerge that make people question his capacity as well as his sincerity. As one of his cabinet colleagues said, there is a reason why Scotty from Marketing sticks.

The Liberal warriors inside the government wince whenever they hear Morrison described by others or describes himself as a pragmatist. They interpret that as code to mean he stands for nothing. The Nationals chafe at their diminished influence.

No one is doing anything beyond grumbling, but it remains the case that beyond his handful of devotees, there is no great love for Morrison inside his own party, in the way there was, say, for John Howard.

Even with COVID-19 in those early stages, it took Morrison a while to get the hang of things. At least he had the good sense to be guided by Brendan Murphy and other medical experts. Up to a point.

Mistakes were made that cost lives, yet without the actions of the premiers and chief ministers who forced closures and lockdowns, while Morrison warned “be careful what you wish for”, the task of containing the virus would have been more difficult and more expensive, and the longer-term consequences even greater.

Throughout the pandemic, it is the premiers who have done most of the heavy lifting. Consequently they paid the biggest penalty when things went wrong.

The most valuable lesson Morrison learned was to move faster than Usain Bolt to switch course after his natural instincts led him into a blind alley.

Morrison is brilliant at talking the talk. The doing, not so much — and this is where the misgivings creep in. It doesn’t matter whether it’s climate change, industrial relations, robodebt, the handling of war crimes, dodgy land deals, fake documents, the removal of the chief of Australia Post, the war with the ABC, even against the woman he appointed to chair it, or the ongoing sports rorts saga.

Last week Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter floated a weakening of the “better off overall” test as part of a package of workplace reforms. That didn’t survive from sundown on Sky News to Sunrise on Seven. It detracted from other less controversial changes while giving Labor and the unions a reason for being.

Christian Porter in Question Time. Picture: Sean Davey

Porter threw them in at the last minute at the behest of business. And with the approval of the Prime Minister. Despite the government arguing the proposed changes to BOOT amounted to almost nothing, it still couldn’t stick with them longer than 24 hours, once again highlighting it has neither the ticker nor the stomach for even the most modest reform.

Without COVID-19, the economy would have continued flatlining. A string of appeals from the Reserve Bank for reforms to boost productivity were ignored before and continue to draw the usual dismissals from the government, even though unemployment will stay high and the trillion-dollar debt looms like a convoy of big Mack trucks.

Without COVID-19, Australia’s relations with China would likely be in better shape than they are. China has been testy for a while thanks to a series of (necessary) measures to curb its influence. But it took a rare media appearance by Foreign Minister Marise Payne to announce that Australia would lead the push for an international inquiry on the origins of COVID-19 to trigger trade retributions on barley, lobster, wine and coal, and could well strike where it would hurt the most — at iron ore.

China’s suspicion the inquiry came at the behest of the US was fuelled by Morrison’s declaration a couple of days later, after speaking to Donald Trump, that “Australia and the US are the best of mates”. It was like a red rag to a bull in the china shop. The conflict has drawn accusations the government has mishandled the relationship. Mor­rison frames the debate as a matter of sovereignty, which it mostly is; however, that then highlights the weakness of his frontbench, which boasts a procession of the mute, the halt and the lame.

Concerns centre on the performances of Payne and Defence Minister Linda Reynolds, who was left hanging by the Prime Minister — as was Chief of the Defence Force Angus Campbell — over the handling of the war crimes inquiry. One cunning plan discussed in the Prime Minister’s office was to send Payne to Washington to replace Arthur Sinodinos as ambassador. It came to an abrupt end on Sunday when Sinodinos tweeted he wasn’t going anywhere, after I aired it on the ABC’s Insiders.

Sending Payne to Washington would have enabled Morrison to put someone more visible, more eager to advocate publicly for the government, particularly in these fraught times with China. All the tea in China would not have stopped Julie Bishop or Alexander Downer from spearheading debate on the biggest story of our time, after COVID-19. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has carried the load and done it well, but he shouldn’t have to. It is much more than a trade issue.

Prime ministers dread reshuffles because of their potential to create more enemies than friends. But prime ministers and their governments are strengthened by the promotion of talented younger backbenchers — male and female — or junior ministers.

COVID-19 will be around a long time. So will Morrison, but he has to seize the opportunities before him.