Election campaign hazards to right and left of Scott Morrison

Scott Morrison wants to paint an optimistic picture based on a strong economic and jobs recovery. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Scott Morrison faces political risks convincing Australians he doesn’t want governments in their lives and opposing mandatory vaccination for all.

Realigning the government with its conservative base after months of talking about climate change and pushing Australians to get jabbed will be a bumpy road.

As Clive Palmer, Pauline Hanson, Campbell Newman and Bob Katter heap pressure on the Coalition’s right flank, and Labor premiers undermine his authority, the Prime Minister must tread carefully.

Locked out from campaigning in battleground states Western Australia and Queensland, Morrison expects no favours from popular Labor leaders Mark McGowan and Annastacia Palaszczuk. After three terms in the wilderness, federal Labor will do what it takes to reclaim The Lodge and collude with state colleagues to disrupt the Coalition.

Morrison wants to paint an optimistic picture based on a strong economic and jobs recovery. But it remains unknown what blame, if any, he will wear for almost two years of lockdowns and high-profile blow-ups over vaccine delivery, quarantine bungling and getting Australians home.

Coalition MPs will argue the states oversaw the worst Covid-19 stuff-ups but the formation of national cabinet provided cover for states to shift blame on to the federal government.

While fit for purpose during the pandemic, national cabinet must evolve and prove it can deliver outcomes rather than petty politicking. After 57 meetings, including weekly at the peak of the pandemic, national cabinet will slow down before next year’s election.

Despite its knockers, Morrison’s pandemic creation has been more effective than the Council of Australian Governments.

The economy, pandemic management and national security will anchor the Coalition’s election pitch – targeting families, small businesses, cost of living, individual choice and jobs growth.

With Morrison no longer the new kid on the block, every comment and shift in position will be under the microscope. His comments this week about unvaccinated Australians having some freedoms once 80 per cent vaccine thresholds are met and that punters no longer want governments telling them what to do seem an obvious path forward.

But it leaves Morrison open to messy squabbles with state Labor leaders and whether voters believe that after almost two years of government intervention they will get their lives back and prosper.