Months after maverick Liberal MP Craig Kelly began spruiking conspiracy theories about how to treat COVID-19, the Prime Minister finally sprang into action today, hauling the MP into his office for a dressing down. Minutes later the Prime Minister’s office alerted the media to the dressing down, ensuring the tough action by the boss was as widely reported as possible.
It was excellent political marketing. If only they were as quick to jump into action in the first place. Instead, tens of millions of dollars in taxpayers money is being spent trying to inform the public about vaccine and pandemic management in contradiction to the musings of Kelly.
As the former Deputy CMO Nick Coatsworth said late last year, the only Kelly people should listen to is CMO Paul Kelly, not the other bloke.
Of course MP Kelly is little more than a sideshow to the main game in Canberra at the moment, which is focused on pandemic recovery. That is why some Liberals are increasingly frustrated by Kelly’s antics, detracting from the main game.
But the party of free speech realises that the optics of shutting down one of its more free spirits can cause problems of its own.
When you court the fringes of the right as party of your organisational base, as conservatives do, shutting down one of their more popular representatives doesn’t always go down well. Kelly is also very close to a line-up of Nationals within the Coalition’s ranks, meaning that were he to become disillusioned with the leadership team, blowback could eventuate. Including for Michael McCormack.
John Howard privately tells people that he isn’t sure how he’d have coped as PM in the era we are witnessing today, whereby fringe players have multiple platforms to have their voices heard. It must be frustrating for leaders. The biggest enemies and destabilising forces incumbents face these days are often from within their own ranks rather than across the chamber. Mavericks capable of sowing the seeds of discontent internally, notwithstanding the electorate wide popularity the PM is currently enjoying according to the polls.
While Team Morrison is frustrated by Kelly’s antics, and it will have to decide as the election creeps ever closer whether or not to save him or cut him loose, the distraction isn’t likely to cause too many difficulties for a PM who is dominant with his re-election all but assured.
At yesterday’s joint party room meeting the Treasurer and Liberal Deputy, Josh Frydenberg, told colleagues not to believe commentators who say the government has the next election in the bag. He pointed to the unexpected comeback they orchestrated at the last election in 2019 as evidence that anything can happen.
But let me tell you this: don’t believe what the Treasurer told the joint party room, because the Coalition absolutely has the next election in the bag. Notwithstanding Morrison being forced to “suffer fools like Craig Kelly”, as one of his ministers described it to me today.
Peter van Onselen is a professor of politics and public policy at the University of Western Australia and Griffith University
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