Morrison’s pitch to wavering voters: it’s time to desert One Nation
Scott Morrison has moved to stop the flow of Coalition votes to One Nation, urging conservatives to support the government.
Scott Morrison has moved to stop the flow of Coalition votes to One Nation, attacking the party as “abhorrent” and urging disaffected conservatives to support the government ahead of Pauline Hanson at the upcoming election.
In a direct pitch to One Nation voters, the Prime Minister invited them to vote for a “party of government’’, acknowledging that they had drifted to the minor party because of “frustrations on a whole range of issues’’.
His comments came as he moved to reassert control of the policy agenda, intervening in the energy debate dividing the Coalition by releasing a shortlist of 12 power generation projects eligible for government support — including an upgrade to the Vales Point coal-fired power plant in NSW.
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The new energy plan follows the government’s decision to introduce an annual cap of 160,000 on the permanent migration intake — cutting targets set under the former Labor government by up to 30,000 people a year — and its foreshadowing of plans to fast-track personal income tax cuts in next week’s budget.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has also been charged with exploiting a $1.3 billion war chest for major water infrastructure projects in regional electorates.
Channelling similar tactics to those used by John Howard ahead of the 1998 election, Mr Morrison yesterday refused to rule out a preference deal with One Nation until nominations closed but declared there was a “long list” of reasons to not vote for the party.
“I’m not interested in getting One Nation’s preferences. I’m interested in getting their primary vote,” he said. “I separate One Nation voters from the One Nation party. I know that people who have voted for One Nation in the past have done so because of frustrations on a whole range of issues. Issues that do trouble Australians.
“I say to the people of Australia who have voted One Nation and are contemplating voting One Nation at the next election, good Australians, (I am) inviting them to vote for a party of government that can deliver on the issues that concern you.”
Speaking in parliament in 2000, Mr Howard had declared: “My view is that the One Nation party should be placed last on all Liberal Party how-to-vote cards in Australia.”
The former prime minister yesterday urged disaffected Liberal and Nationals voters to shun One Nation following the party’s attempts to solicit donations from America’s gun lobby, claiming it should be “anathema” to anyone thinking of supporting it.
Mr Howard, who brought in Australia’s tough gun control regime more than 20 years ago following the Port Arthur massacre, said he backed Mr Morrison’s condemnation of the party.
Speaking to The Australian, Mr Howard said he fully supported the Prime Minister’s appeal to disaffected voters to draw a line in the sand over the latest scandal and abandon the party as a vehicle for a protest vote.
“The point he made is that if there is anyone for any reason who is a normally a Nationals or Liberal voter who is unhappy with us but wouldn’t dream of voting for Labor or the Greens … if they are thinking of voting One Nation, then what they have done with the National Rifle Association is a powerful reason not to,” Mr Howard told The Australian. “It should be anathema to anyone.”
Mr Howard said his gun laws had stood the test of time and the country was an infinitely safer country.
In the lead up to the 1998 election, each Liberal state division opted to preference One Nation last, although Mr Howard was careful not to overreact to the threat posed by Ms Hanson despite calls from Liberal figures — including Malcolm Fraser, Peter Costello and Tony Abbott — to openly condemn her.
The government’s pushback against One Nation comes as Mr Morrison moves to neutralise the minor right-wing party’s policies on population, jobs in the regions, water infrastructure and support for farmers. The Morrison government has extended an olive branch to disgruntled Nationals MPs in marginal seats, short-listing an upgrade of the Vales Point coal-fired power station at Lake Macquarie and committing to a feasibility study into a new clean coal plant in the marginal Coalition held seat of Capricornia in Queensland.
The move was an attempt to reassert control over the energy debate dividing the Coalition after rebel Nationals, led by Barnaby Joyce, called on the government to support a new coal-fired power plant in Queensland — a demand condemned by Liberal MPs who argued it would cost the party seats in inner-city electorates in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Unveiling the next stage of the government’s plan to underwrite new firmed power generation, Mr Morrison revealed that 12 power projects had been short-listed for government support after being whittled down from an initial list of 66. “Those projects will deliver around about 4000 megawatts, which is about twice the size of what we’re talking about currently at stations like Liddell and other major coal-fired power stations,” he said. “So this is providing reliable power generation. It is across a range of projects in gas, hydro and one very small project which is a coal upgrade project in NSW in Lake Macquarie.”
Mr Morrison said the “feasibility study” would test the viability of a proposal for a new clean coal plant at Collinsville in the knife-edge seat of Capricornia, held by the Coalition on a margin of 0.6 per cent.
“The Collinsville proposal is there. That will actually have an emissions intensity which is lower, lower than the current average for the entire east coast grid. So these are projects which at the end of the day, will continue to help us meet all of our emissions reduction targets,” he said.
Mr Morrison also announced last week that an annual cap of 160,000 would be placed on the permanent migration intake, cutting targets set under the former Labor government by up to 30,000 people a year.
Imposing for the first time an official ceiling on numbers, the cabinet also signed off on a regional settlement policy which will introduce visa conditions requiring skilled migrants to reside in cities other than Sydney and Melbourne for a minimum of five years.
Mr McCormack yesterday told The Australian the government would use a $1.3bn war chest to build dams, irrigation systems and pipelines under two major programs, and plan to accelerate its announcements ahead of the May election.
Reaching out to indigenous Australians, the Morrison government will also announce today that it will fund a new coalition of Peak Aboriginal and Torres Islander organisations, made up of people from 14 representative indigenous organisations across the nation, “to change the way governments and indigenous Australians work together”.
Mr Morrison yesterday said he was “not interested” in One Nation’s preferences because he was committed to taking primary votes away from Senator Hanson.
“I’m not running to run second, or third or fourth,” he said.
“I’m in this race as the Prime Minister to be re-elected. And the way you seek to do that in this country is to not squabble over preferences.”
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