Morrison’s chance to build on conservative principles

The Morrison government would assist its electoral standing by pressing ahead with a proposal, already on the drawing board, to extend the use of cashless debit cards among unemployed teenagers. The cards quarantine 80 per cent of welfare payments for EFTPOS transactions, with bans on the purchase of alcohol or gambling. They work as a carrot and stick, creating incentive for card holders to seek work and avoid becoming locked into futile patterns of unemployment, welfare dependency and substance abuse. Once established, such cycles are hard to break.

Trials of the cards, under way in ­Ceduna, South Australia, and the East Kimberley and Goldfields in Western Australia, will be extended before Christmas. They will cover 7000 welfare recipients, predominantly non-indigenous young people, in Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in the Hinkler electorate in regional Queensland, where youth unemployment is 28 per cent. Ten months ago, a Senate committee reported that the Department of Social Services had found the card had helped produce sustained reductions in alcohol consumption, illegal drug use, gambling and violence where it was tested.

Labor and the Greens, foolishly, voted in the Senate to block the Hinkler trial. But it passed with the support of South Australian independent Tim Storer, on condition that it be subjected to independent review. If satisfactory, the government should consider extending use of the card to teenage welfare recipients nationally, and possibly to older groups, in line with the Coalition’s commitment to welfare reform by encouraging self-sufficiency.

The public, today’s Newspoll indicates, is watching the Morrison government’s policies and its responses to key issues. Scott Morrison has set a cracking pace since he became Prime Minister a month ago, showing he is willing and able to respond quickly to issues of public concern such as the drought, the despicable placing of needles in strawberries and the damaging row over Catholic and independent school funding. He made a good start in foreign policy on his visit to Indonesia and is selling the message of the Coalition’s superior economic management in a way voters understand. Mr Morrison, consequently, has already extended his lead over Bill Shorten as preferred prime minister to 13 per cent. This is a sign that voters are at least listening to him. After trailing Labor 56 to 44 on the two-party preferred vote after the ructions that saw Malcolm Turnbull ousted, the Coalition has clawed back to trail 54 to 46 per cent.

Regardless of his policy initiatives, Mr Morrison cannot hope to overtake Labor while perceptions continue of disunity, loathing and bullying in Liberal ranks. Julie Bishop’s appearance on 60 Minutes and the resignations of female MPs such as Julia Banks and Ann Sudmalis have fanned those flames. While bitterness continues to outweigh Liberal MPs’ commitment to government in the national interest, the opposition, despite economically destructive policies and a leader whom voters dislike, will remain on top.