Scott Morrison to push Labor on security laws

Scott Morrison will this week move to ratchet up the political contest.

Having honoured his election commitment of providing tax cuts for everyone, Scott Morrison will this week move to seriously ratchet up the political contest. He will tear away at Anthony Albanese’s leadership on two further fronts in an attempt to deny Labor any platform for recovery following its unwinding over the income tax cut debate.

There is nothing opaque about Morrison’s agenda for the second parliamentary sitting week since the election.

He wants the Coalition’s $5 billion future drought fund passed and wants a resolution on two key national security bills. If they get around to it, Morrison would also like to resurrect the overhanging industrial relations laws to crack down on union thuggery.

But before they even get to that, Labor will be tested on boats with the government’s attempts to unwind the Medivac bill.

All of these fulfil elements of a long list of election promises.

More importantly, they serve a naked political agenda for the coming fortnight before parliament breaks for the winter recess. As one Labor insider observed: “If you look at the notice paper for this week, it is wedge after wedge after wedge.”

Labor is now bracing for the fallout from Morrison’s post-election political battle plan.

Albanese and his team knew the tax cuts stuff was coming from day one.

There was never a prospect of not supporting them, but Albanese insisted that under the new Labor model, proper process of shadow cabinet and caucus had to be respected.

And he certainly didn’t need a soothsayer to tell him what was coming this week. Still bruised from the tax affair, he is unlikely to want to stand in the way of farmers and a $5bn pot.

In the end, Labor MPs will back down but not before the process has tortured them.

The national security legislation, namely the temporary exclusion orders to prevent foreign fighters returning, is more problematic for Albanese and there is no clear outcome yet.

There is little that Albanese can do about any of it at the moment than offer alternatives to demonstrate Labor still has a pulse before handing out vials of morphine to the caucus.

Labor’s problem is one self-identified by Albanese.

In an era of conflict fatigue, it’s hard to mount a counter argument that the government is being unco-operative because it is ignoring Labor’s suggestions.