Stormy waters on horizon threaten Scott Morrison’s smooth sailing

Since his victory in the last election, Scott Morrison enjoys near-hero status among his party’s activists, and the voters have a pretty benign view of him as well.

The economy continues to chug along without great power but with sufficient momentum to cause him little grief and give ­Anthony Albanese no respite from seeing a future election victory as anything but close at hand.

The Prime Minister earned his triumphs but, as with all the great men (and women), luck has a part to play. There were no great external hiccups such as the global fin­ancial crisis to stretch him, no foreign affairs dramas in our ­region, and he thrives when all that is required is good management, which is his forte. But it will not always be smooth sailing.

The US-China trade war still hasn’t really started and I am by no means certain it ever will. In fact, the main war of words being conducted in the world today is between Iran and the US.

If there was a playground bully at school, you just avoided him, but in the world of today where weapons of mass destruction abound not just in traditionally powerful nations but in India and Pakistan (and, you can bet, the mad mullahs in Iran still dream of a nuclear arsenal), then that is the kind of playground bully you could not afford to ignore.

While I am no fan of Benjamin Netanyahu, anyone who looks at a map of the Middle East will see tiny Israel surrounded by Islamic states hellbent on its destruction.

Israel’s aggression in the war of 1947-49 can be understood when you take into account the scary fact it was only 10km wide near the port town of Haifa. Nightmare scenarios of thousands of its citizens being slaughtered were not ridiculous or fanciful then.

On Australia’s doorstep, there lies a problem utterly determined to get worse. New Guinea is a failed state with no real hope of good government or economic stability for the foreseeable future. Driven by tribal hatreds and with no sense of nationhood, it was granted independence by Gough Whitlam when the people didn’t want it and were not ready for it.

Port Moresby is one of the worst cities in the world for violence. Prime ministers are at war with the courts, which do not shy away from sacking politicians. We should be wary of this because wherever there is a vacuum, someone marches in to fill it.

While South Pacific nations complain about sea level rises that cover their islands and their homes, we in Australia ignore climate change.

The demands from the South Pacific that we stop using coal for energy are a tad rich but desperate people always get looser with their use of hyperbole. If Australia did not turn one more ounce of coal, not one of those nations would get a skerrick of relief from the oceans surrounding them.

Another issue yet to be faced is what do we do with Nauru once its use as a dumping ground for unwanted applicants for Australian residence is completed.

It is not too hard to find issues to worry about in today’s world so I am glad I have retired as a kingmaker.

The fact that I will never cap another knee merely warms the cockles of my ageing heart.