Is Christian Porter shirty over Scott Morrison’s Hawaiian holiday?

Is Christian Porter trying to tell us something about Scott Morrison’s Hawaiian holiday?

Attorney-General Christian Porter and his Hawaiian shirt. Picture: Supplied

Is Christian Porter trying to tell us something?

The Star Wars-tattooed Attorney-General uploaded a new snap to his Facebook page on February 2 in which he’s chatting to a Perth constituent at a festival while wearing a T-shirt that says: “GOOD MORNING HAWAII”!

A subtle sartorial reference to the unpopular holiday Scott Morrison took (and tried to keep quiet) during the deadly bushfires in December last year?

‘I’m watching you, Christian.’

Porter’s office stresses its boss’s “poor taste in fashion” is not a political statement. They say the West Australian MP’s last trip to Hawaii was in 1994 and, judging by the photo, that’s when he picked up the now-faded pink shirt. That would make it the same age as Australia’s youngest federal pollie, 25-year-old WA Greens senator Jordan Steele-John.

But what of the “Christian Porter for PM” Facebook group created on August 22, 2018, the day after the first failed Liberals leadership spill by Peter Dutton? We’re happy to report that membership has jumped from 20 people, when we last checked in July 2018, to 24.

“This guy does his job in the background,” the group description reads. “He is intelligent and honest what else do we need. Plus he is not running for the job.”

Tragically, it hasn’t been updated since administrator Colin from Melbourne wrote on September 8, 2018: “Have to wait for a while SCOMO has the reigns (sic) for the time being, we wish him all the best”.

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Barnaby’s choice

The Ides of March are fast approaching for Michael McCormack. He has been Nationals leader for 721 days. Barnaby Joyce was in the job for 740 days, with a brief Kiwi-forced by-election in the middle.

Asked if he believed Joyce and fellow conspirator Matt Canavan wouldn’t challenge again, MickMack told ABC’s Insiders they’ve pledged their support: “I always believe country people when they look me in the eye.”

For the record, Canavan was born and raised in Southport, a 12-minute drive from the Gold Coast CBD. But in the first episode of his podcast, Weatherboard and Iron, Joyce pans Sydney as “a miserable piece of coastline” that looks nice because “trillions of dollars have been spent”.

Liberal MP Jason Falinski turned to the Bard for inspiration when asked on Sky News to predict who would be the deputy prime minister at the next federal election: “Well, I imagine Michael McCormack. But, you know, as Shakespeare would say, who can look into the seeds of time?”

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Playing the marketer

“I know we’re not meant to use names besides official titles, but I will just acknowledge there are some in the community who refer to him as Scotty from Marketing,” Labor senator Kristina Keneally told parliament last week.

A quick browse through Hansard shows the Prime Minister’s new nickname has been uttered five times. Labor MP Pat Conroy was the first at 3.53pm on Wednesday, February 5, followed by Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi at 5.22pm.

In the doghouse ... NT senator Sam McMahon. Picture: Supplied

In a rookie error, the only government MP to put it on the record is Northern Territory Country Liberal Sam McMahon while defending the Morrison’s 50-second ad about Defence deployment to battle bushfires — which happened to be authorised by the Liberal Party.

In other unfinished business, Morrison claimed “most of the federal cabinet wouldn’t even know who Matt Kean was” after the NSW Liberal Environment Minister called for stronger action on climate change last month.

Cheeky Labor senator (and Otis Group member) Kimberley Kitching put in formal Senate estimates questions to Mathias Cormann and Anne Ruston. Both ministers replied that, yes, they were aware of Kean.

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