Scott Morrison appeases Right faction of the Liberal Party

PM Scott Morrison after the swearing in ceremony with the Governor-General. Picture: Kym Smith

Our new Prime Minister has done a quite reasonable job of appeasement for the left-right-out Right faction of his party. Enough of the rebels have received jobs as cabinet junior and assistant ministers to quell their frustrations. Malcolm Turnbull called these rebels “insurgents”. One wonders what he and his mates were when they ambushed Tony Abbott. Right­eous­ness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

The one mistake Scott Morrison made was to exclude Abbott. At least Abbott won’t have a burning desire to bring the new man down but there is not enough talent around the cabinet table to leave a giant like him languishing on the backbench.

The role of “envoy” to indigenous Australians is so vague I would not be surprised if the former PM knocked it back.

The demotion of Michaelia Cash was well-deserved. At least last week’s shenanigans showed us she was still alive. For a woman who used to make so much noise that it seemed she coveted controversy, her recent period of silence has been remarkable.

We all witnessed her high dudgeon at the mere suggestion someone in her office may have leaked details of a raid by federal police on the AWU offices in Melbourne. We then saw those same gendarmes recommend charges over the leak while Cash took up residence under her desk.

Simon Birmingham has been shunted out of education where he managed to alienate the Catholic and independent schools organisations. As a staunch supporter of Morrison in the ballot, he still landed on his feet and kept a cabinet spot with the trade portfolio.

Keeping everyone in the tent has meant cabinet members have jumped to 23. During the Hawke years, cabinet ranged from 17 to 19 ministers. The super-ministries of that era seem to have disappeared and a far more ad hoc regime has replaced them. Stuart Robert has been rehabilitated, as has Sussan Ley. If you serve a year or two in political limbo, it is reasonable to assume you have done your time.

The saddest thing for me is the loss of Julie Bishop, a woman of great charm and competence who has been an outstanding foreign minister. She was a great campaigner for her party, too, and would have been a huge asset in the election to come. If rumours are true and she is to be made ­governor-general, I would be delighted. It is a bit rich for Labor to mobilise against this appointment, were it to happen. I was a member of the government that appointed Bill Hayden from its own ranks. It is worth remembering that the Whitlam government was sacked by its own appointment, not by someone from the other side.

The foreign affairs portfolio has gone to Marise Payne and this is where the PM has taken a huge leap of faith. As Greg Sheridan wrote in this newspaper days ago, as defence minister it appeared she had taken a “vow of silence”. She simply refused to do one-on-one interviews and rarely did door- stops or press conferences. As Foreign Minister, she will have to talk to Australians who will need to know where we stand on North Korea, Donald Trump, Europe, Japan and, of course, China. In Payne’s case, silence isn’t golden — it is just plain unacceptable.

Morrison, together with the two chief economic ministers, Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann, will form a heavyweight team.

They have six months to come up with an energy policy that will bring prices down immediately.

Good luck with that.