Man on a mission Morrison takes the fight to Labor leader

Scott Morrison during Question Time in the House of Representatives Chamber at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

Finally, our Prime Minister has hit his straps. Scott Morrison has obviously come to the same conclusion long after the nation did. Being a good bloke is not enough. In a few short sentences, he gave the impression of a man on a mission to take the fight up to Bill Shorten.

When Shorten backed away from supporting the flawed Phelps bill, he did so because the PM made him look lightweight with cut-through rhetoric that showed Morrison would not go down without a fight. This is the problem with Shorten on national security. He thinks it is something you trade on.

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Morrison says Shorten is looking for some middle ground. Morrison says: “I’m going to stand on the right ground. You want to join me on the right ground Bill, you’re welcome.”

This is a classic example of why I don’t think an independent like Kerryn Phelps should be in the parliament. Once it became clear a claim to be suffering a mental disorder would get you off the island, there would be a mental illness epidemic. Desperate people will come at just about anything to achieve a change in their circumstances.

Shorten is rightly aware that Labor’s only real weakness is border protection and that he has been fortunate this had faded as an election issue.

You can’t blame Morrison for taking advantage of a golden opportunity created by the new MP for Wentworth. Phelps may be a great campaigner with a huge network within Sydney’s eastern suburbs but when it comes to politics, she is a mug. I have tried to be supportive but she is making it very difficult for me to stay the course.

What are we going to do with the poor bastards on Nauru? Half of South and Central America is marching to the US border. Millions of Africans have their hearts set on joining the million Africans already in Europe. The planet is awash with refugees and finding them a home is proving well-nigh impossible.

While it may be extremely difficult for Labor’s Left to accept this, it is a fact. It is also a fact that Shorten is caught between a rock and a hard place. He can do nothing that might give a hint to the people-smugglers to start the boats again yet half his party want him to do just that.

Being Labor leader has its moments. This is not one of them.