The PM’s in trouble — it’s time for one last red-hot go

Scott Morrison has a beer at the Criterion Hotel in Rockhampton, in Queensland. Picture: Alex Coppel

How times have changed. These days highly paid advisers try to ­ensure that our candidates for prime minister eliminate all emotion from their performances. Gone are the days when Paul Keating would smash his opponents. Now you can’t show anger. You need to be an emotionally empty vessel.

There is something wrong with anyone who has never had any fire in the belly. It has become conventional wisdom that only emotional eunuchs can succeed in modern politics. I wish more candidates would defy that convention.

When you are running Australia you do not have an easy job. There will naturally be frustration over the daily judgment calls where you can argue an equally convincing case for either side of the debate. That is the case for so many decisions that political ­leaders must make.

If you are squeamish about making an error, politics is not for you. Provided you get it right most of the time, the mob can forgive the odd stuff-up. Hanging on to your mistakes is a big error.

I can recall telling Tony Abbott when he was prime minister in July 2014 to ditch his $7.50 co-payment for Medicare and his ludicrously generous maternal leave scheme ­because they were doing him real damage. These were his “signature” policies and he hung on to them like grim death for ­another five months before, with the chimes of Santa’s sleigh filling the air, they were finally dumped. I have been a mate of Tony for quite some time and was trying to do him a good turn.

For some strange reason, a Labor man like myself is on very good personal terms with both ­Abbott and Scott Morrison. They are mates of mine, but I couldn’t come at being a mate of Malcolm Turnbull. This merely confirmed my status as a normal human being. It would be a better country if more people could find a way of civilising their political differences and manage to make friends across the political divide.

As an example, you would have to spend a month of Sundays trying to find as good a gentleman as Josh Frydenberg.

Leaders are not always nice people but it is not too difficult to see a time in a few years when Frydenberg and Jim Chalmers lead their respective parties. Chalmers is both brilliant and decent, and has deserved his rapid ascent through Labor’s ranks.

As fast as Chalmers is rising, the Greens appear to be falling. Their internal bickering has become truly vicious and is attracting much more publicity than their more outrageous policies. Parties of the far Left have a history of nasty schisms and the Greens are following a well-worn path to ­richly deserved oblivion.

Meanwhile, Clive Palmer continues a spendathon the like of which this country has never seen. I guess that when you are attempting to release a virus that can completely erase the memories of Australians that you sacked ­almost 1000 workers and refused to pay them their entitlements, you are asking the voters to forget a great deal.

You are also asking them to forget the cavalier way Palmer ­treated the parliament when he was elected the MP for Fairfax. He treated the parliament, not to mention the poor souls who voted for him, with utter contempt.

The main driving force for Palmer will always be making more and more money to add to his considerable fortune.

Ever since her main man, Steve Dickson, was caught drunk making obscene suggestions to a scantily clad woman in a strip club, Pauline Hanson has been uncharacteristically silent. Her embarrassment is obvious and given that she introduced Fraser Anning, who I consider a disgusting racist, to Australia, she should hang her head in shame. As I have said many times, if you dwell in the fringes of our ­society you will meet some pretty weird types. Hanson’s utter failure to weed out the nutters underlines the weakness of One Nation — no structure, no rules and a dictator at the top. Hansonism will eventually wither on the vine and no one will mourn its passing or grieve at its demise.

Sadly, we don’t see much of Cory Bernardi these days. He is ­intelligent, across his brief and way smarter than the Liberals he left behind. Sadly, though, those lesser Liberals will surely defeat him.

His party has failed to fire in test runs and he appears doomed by lesser men. Still, anyone looking for justice and fairness in politics is destined for a forlorn search.

After a bright start, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party ­appears to have stalled and is preparing for a fall that could eventually lead to its extinction.

The most interesting seat to watch for those who like supporting independent candidates is the seat of Wentworth in Sydney. This is the seat that covers most of those suburbs occupied by Sydney’s wealthy.

It is still impossible to believe that a seat with Darling Point, Point Piper, Vaucluse, Double Bay and Rose Bay could ever be lost by the Liberals. In the wake of the messy removal of its local member, Turnbull, from the prime ministership, however, that is ­exactly what happens.

No matter what the Labor Party does about preferences, I will give my preference to Liberal Dave Sharma. I want the government, no matter who is in that government, to be able to govern.

I do not like the prospect of any independent tail wagging the government dog. No matter what you may think of her, Kerryn Phelps runs the flag up the pole and an amazing number of people salute. She has an army ready to support her every move and that will make it incredibly difficult to beat her.

With only days to go, Labor is still the firm favourite. It is hard to see that changing now and Morrison has really just this weekend to turn things around. The PM has to be bold. Continuing in his normal vein is, at this late stage, a ­recipe for defeat. As a campaign ­director during his time as the Liberal Party secretary in NSW, Morrison must instinctively know what he has to do.

The party machine must be telling him he is in dire straits so the incentive should be there to up the ante.

If he loses, at least he went out with a bang and not a whimper. If he wins, he will be a Liberal legend.

Come on, Scott. Have a real go!