‘Sacrificed Australian security, sovereignty, and honour’: Scott Morrison under the microscope in Nemesis

Former PM Scott Morrison was compared to a ‘10,000 tonne boulder attached to your leg’ by Liberal colleagues in the finale of the ABC Nemesis series.

Scott Morrison in the ABC series Nemesis.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison has been labelled everything from a “bulldozer” to a “patriot”, after coming under scrutiny from his former parliamentary colleagues, public servants and state premiers in the ABC documentary Nemesis.

The ABC documentary series, featuring interviews by journalist Mark Willacy, chronicled the internal party tensions of the Coalition across the prime ministerships of Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.

Monday’s episode focused on the incumbency of Mr Morrison from 2018 to 2022, highlighting the Coalition’s views of the period.

Mr Morrison’s treatment of women was questioned, with former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Martin Parkinson claiming Mr Morrison never “ever really valued women’s perspectives”.

“I’d always seen somebody who was domineering (in Mr Morrison), whose relationship with the female members of his cabinet left a lot to be desired,” he said. “I just don’t think he ever really valued women’s perspectives.”

Former Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk detailed the phone call in which Mr Morrison sought an exemption for travel for one constituent across the border during the Covid lockdown period.

“He said, ‘This will break you. You need to do this. You must approve this’. And it was threatening language. I felt extremely threatened,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I actually hung up. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that, and it stuck with me and has had a firm impression on me, and I think it also expresses the way in which he may treat women.”

When questioned on the allegations of sexism throughout his incumbency, Mr Morrison relented that his language was “clumsy” at points, because “suburban dads can be a bit clumsy with their language”.

Former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce was also scrutinised for his treatment of women, alongside the damage he was perceived to have wrought in the Coalition’s efforts to pass the 2050 carbon net-zero target.

“If Barnaby Joyce could just have kept quiet and actually accepted that he’d lost the debate on climate, it would have been enormously helpful for us,” former Liberal MP Katie Allen said. “Because we’d won, and he needed to hear that loud and clear.”

The documentary gave insight to the party’s fractures over election policy, with former MPs Ken Wyatt and Warren Entsch encouraging former treasurer Josh Frydenberg to seek to secure the Liberal leadership from Mr Morrison in 2022.

Former MP Tim Wilson called sentiment against Mr Morrison in the 2022 election a “10,000 tonne boulder attached to your leg” in the candidacy of various MPs, a belief shared by Mr Wyatt, Ms Allen, Senator Dave Sharma, and former MPs Trent Zimmerman and Fiona Martin.

Some members of the Morrison government used the documentary to clarify events from the period, with former deputy PM Michael McCormack alleging he was asked not to address his acting PM role during the Black Summer bushfires by the Prime Minister’s Office.

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie was critical of the Christine Holgate scandal, stating the former Australia Post chief executive “had not breached any policy of her organisation, but had been effectively sacked on the floor of parliament”.

Mr Turnbull called the scrapping of the government’s submarine deal with France the Morrison government’s lowest point.

“I think Morrison sacrificed Australian security, sovereignty and honour all at once,” he said. “It was the worst decision of his government, in my view.”

Mr Morrison was given the chance to reflect on his own incumbency calling the 2050 net-zero goal his most difficult achievement as Coalition leader.