The Sketch: strong, safe, whatever: slogans yield to slanging

Peter Dutton brings his homework into the house yesterday.

Perhaps spurred on by Scott Morrison’s new slogan “Strong, safe, together”, Labor pushed on with its question-time quizzing about the Liberal coup.

Even though he could have ­argued that Malcolm Turnbull’s fate surely emphasised the ­slogan’s accuracy, the new PM was having none of it. “I didn’t come to the leadership seeking to change it,” he said, once again emphasising that, unlike a certain somebody, his hands were clean.

“There is someone else in this chamber who knows all about rolling leaders,” Morrison began with his first flicker of merriness. For as much mileage as there is to be had out of Turnbull’s downfall, memories even in this goldfish-like age tend to be able to stretch back the few years to when Labor showed PM-lopping could be done — even if it did carry the risk of future ­dramatic re-enactments by Sam Dastyari.

If all this wasn’t enough to make Julia Gillard spring to mind, Morrison helped get it over the line. “I have stepped up and I am stepping up for all Australians,” he said. Then in an even more powerful echo he went on to say: “As a new Prime Minister, I understand I have a big job to do as I demonstrate to Australians my authenticity …”

Compare and contrast to one of the best-known lines from the Gillard prime ministership: “I think it’s time for me to make sure that the real Julia is well and truly on display. So I’m going to step up and take personal charge …”

While real ScoMo stayed on display, Peter Dutton charged personally. Who he was after wasn’t exactly a mystery, given he was carrying binders marked “Chris Bowen” and “Tony Burke” in a font big enough to be read from Yass.

Despite this advance billing, it was someone else who ultimately got the Dutton limelight. Facing persistent questioning from Labor’s Shayne Neumann about au pair irregularities, Dutton eventually cracked it and swung a metaphorical phone book at his erstwhile mate, Roman Quaedvlieg.

“This smear is coming from the former Australian Border Force commissioner,” Dutton fumed. “A man who was as commissioner sacked from his position, a man who had groomed a girl 30 years younger than himself, discredited and disgraced …”

As the word “groomed” sounded in the chamber, backs suddenly straightened, sinews stiffened, eyelids blinked involuntarily. Dutton rolled on, informing Labor MPs that Quaedvlieg was their Godwin Grech. (The public servant at the heart of the so-called Utegate scandal can presumably be mentioned safely now that Turnbull is gone.)

Quaedvlieg fired back across the internet with a response that included the words “extra­ordinary”, “disgusting” and ­“offensive”.

It’s no “Strong, safe, together” but it has zing.