Morrison’s political focus never far from home

Scott Morrison and wife Jenny arrive in Washington, USA ahead of their State dinner with President Trump tomorrow night. Picture: Adam Taylor

It is an irony that Scott Morrison, the daggy dad from Sydney’s Sutherland Shire who longs to be at Shark Park watching rugby league and has made a name for himself reconnecting with so-called quiet Australians, has become the nation’s most-travelled prime minister in his first year in office.

Admittedly he’s only edged out Kevin “747” Rudd by one trip and his journeys overseas have been much shorter.

But the travel record is a reflection of the global and regional demands now placed on Australian prime ministers to meet international leaders, personally address issues and attend ever-increasing summits.

Whenever he is overseas, Morrison invariably ties his visit to “jobs in Australia” through trade and keeping Australians “safe and secure” through strategic alliances.

Morrison may be in London, Singapore, Tokyo, Jakarta, Hanoi, Paris, New York or Washington DC but he tries never to be too far from the shire.

As well, Morrison has offset his overseas travel with an even more punishing domestic schedule around Australia to drought-affected regions, flooded areas, regional hubs and all the capital cities.

This is the challenge for a modern prime minister.

There is now a crushing agenda of regional and international summits — APEC, the G20, the Pacific Islands Forum, CHOGM, ASEAN — which either didn’t exist last century or didn’t require full attendance. There are also greater demands for more personal bilateral trade and diplomatic meetings as a result of regional tensions.

Before Rudd worked to be a founding member of the G20 leaders’ meetings, the G20 was for finance ministers.

Once a prime minister could not attend the South Pacific Forum, but the explosion of bilateral trade agreements under Tony Abbott has made individual visits essential.

Morrison has recognised all of this and built strong personal relationships with Donald Trump, Shinzo Abe, Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, Joko Widodo and a number of Pacific Island leaders, despite differences over climate change.

Yet when he was invited to the G7 in France because of Australia’s campaign on internet giants, Morrison’s opening words at his press conference in Biarritz were about “jobs in Australia”.

Morrison knows there is no choice but to travel overseas and has made the most trips of any prime minister in the first year but he’s kept it tied to the shire, jobs and ordinary Australians, stayed as briefly as possible and built on the personal relationships by hitting the phone (or text and WhatsApp) once the first meeting has taken place.

It has to be done but it also has to be both successful and managed.

So far the most-travelled PM is doing just that as he embarks on a 10-day visit to the US.