Yes, last week’s parliamentary sitting was messy and chaotic and the slight improvement at the start of this week is brittle and precarious, but it’s not enough to drive the Prime Minister to alter a strategy he has harboured for years.
As parliament began its final week Morrison still faced at least two Liberal senators threatening not to support government legislation, with Queensland Liberal veteran MP Warren Entsch also opposing a quick introduction of the religious freedoms bill and new Speaker Andrew Wallace making errors.
Behind the Prime Minister, Coalition MPs were sullen and concerned while Anthony Albanese’s colleagues were upbeat and assertive.
Yet, even if things gets worse in the next few days it is clear from Morrison, Peter Dutton, Josh Frydenberg and Greg Hunt, that they still have a firm faith in the fundamentals of their strategy on combating Covid-19, leading the economy back to recovery and promoting personal safety and national security.
Of course, Morrison seeks to downplay the parliamentary mess and defeats as “political games” and procedural tricks, but the alternative political strategy of defending the vaccine rollout and quarantine, as well as the economic recovery, even in the face of the Omicron variant, is still in place.
There have been much more chaotic parliamentary sittings and more serious defections. And a Prime Minister and Treasurer wedded to a budget to reset the agenda in 2022 are not about to ditch that strategy for a few bad grabs on television.
Parliamentary chaos does reflect poorly on the government of the day and the political theatre does have a real impact on MPs’ morale and attitudes, but to have endured so much for so long and then surrender to nervous colleagues and Labor-generated panic would be handing the whole agenda to the Opposition Leader.
Hung parliaments, obstructionist Senates, minority governments and parliamentary chaos have become the norm in recent decades.
Morrison, who heads a minority government, faces a hostile Senate, and parliamentary disruption is more likely to continue while he works on a broader strategy than appear panicked and powerless going to an early election.
Labor would like a March 4 election because that is what would be best for it – no budget and a Coalition on the run.
Why would Morrison rush to defeat at an earlier election when he has the power to hold on until there is a better chance of winning?
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In the last parliamentary sitting of 2021 Scott Morrison’s preferred legislative and procedural agenda is still under threat from rebellious backbenchers and senators, but speculation that the messy year’s end will trigger a blanking out of parliament next year and a March election is premature to say the least.