And with a single exchange of letters, Scott Morrison leapt free

Scott Morrison quietly slipped out of parliament yesterday clutching letters that would seal a win for the Coalition.

Treasurer Scott Morrison.

At the end of question time, as Labor forced a series of votes over Bill Shorten’s attempts to condemn the government for a failure on the backpacker tax, Scott Morrison quietly slipped out of the Chamber clutching letters that would seal a win for the Coalition.

The unsigned letters — on the Treasurer’s letterhead — that had been delivered to him during question time contained the agreement with Greens leader Richard Di Natale he frantically had been finalising on his mobile phone for the previous hour.

The government appearing to have gambled on brinkmanship and lost, Morrison was in fact finalising a deal that pulled the rug from under Labor’s last attack of the year — adding to the Coalition’s political momentum and ensuring it went into the summer break on a high.

Although the passage of the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill was of greater significance economically and politically, a deal on the backpacker tax bill had become vital for Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition.

In the last 12 hours of the sitting, Morrison and Di Natale had blindsided Labor and the crossbench senators who earlier reneged on an agreement for a 15 per cent backpacker tax rate. Even as Labor peppered Turnbull, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Morrison about their failure to resolve the backpacker tax, the deal was being done before their eyes.

On Wednesday, Morrison seemed to have locked into a lost cause and the PM apparently had “doubled down” on a losing bet and both faced a humiliating backdown demanded by the ALP and Derryn Hinch. But in fact, the government was outflanking them.

Its credibility was on the line, Morrison’s economic agenda was under threat and Labor continued to bury Turnbull’s “achievements” of the 45th Parliament in rowdy political noise. The importance of the backpacker tax went well beyond its effect on the budget.

It was politically untenable to finish the year without certainty for farmers and tourism operators who desperately need backpacker labour, while budget savings, Australia’s triple-A credit rating and the mid-year economic statement ensure the economy and Morrison’s performance are centrestage in the weeks and months ahead.

On Wednesday night, Di Natale knew the government had to get a deal and yesterday his negotiations with Morrison began.

During question time, Morrison, Turnbull and Joyce were pilloried by Labor. Shorten, Chris Bowen and Tony Burke ridiculed Turnbull’s weakness and Morrison’s inability to get the tax changes through.

But as the torment continued, Morrison looked more relaxed and happier, sending text after text and passing message after message to Turnbull, Joyce and Christopher Pyne.

At one stage Turnbull accused Shorten of having a poor poker face and being unable to hide his glee at the Coalition’s discomfort and Labor’s “wrecking”. The Coalition leadership team looked ready to play poker all night.

Just before 3pm, when the draft letters arrived, Morrison, knowing he had a deal, informed Turnbull and sat absorbing Labor’s condemnation. Then, as Labor forced another division and MPs had to cross sides, Morrison tucked the letters into his folder, crossed the floor and then simply kept walking out of the chamber.

Labor didn’t notice him missing, persisted with its frontal assault and was left swinging at a shadow. About an hour later Morrison tabled Di Natale’s letter as he introduced the backpacker tax bill, once more with a 15 per cent rate and his course cleared for economic plans ahead.