Morrison’s right: We don’t trust in governments, especially his

Scott Morrison’s right about one thing. Don’t trust governments.

The former prime minister told congregants at Margaret Court’s Victory Life Centre in Perth on Sunday not to trust in governments and that it would be a mistake to put trust in our political leaders rather than in God. Look, he’s had this vibe before. As Sean Kelly points out in his book on the former leader, The Game, Morrison always wanted to change the nation by following the principles of his faith. Check out his maiden speech where he says Australia is a free country, not a secular country (nah, check out the recent census, ScoMo).

Scott Morrison delivered a sermon to Victory Life Centre on Sunday, urging churchgoers to trust in God, not government.Credit: upplied

“We trust in Him. We don’t trust in governments. We don’t trust in [the] United Nations, thank goodness,” Morrison said.

But when it comes to trust, turns out he was right – especially when it comes to his government. Research from the Australian Election Study reveals when we elected Scott Morrison’s government in 2019, Australians had the lowest levels of political trust on record, says Sarah Cameron, researcher at Griffith University and an Australian expert in the way we feel about politicians and the political process.

Over the last decade, that study showed Australians experienced a steep decline in trust in government and satisfaction with democracy. In 2019, as we elected Morrison and his government, just one in 10 Australians thought politicians were in it for the public good. Most of the others all thought politicians were in it for themselves or to represent vested interests.

And sure, politicians and pundits can do all the social-media-voter-blaming they like but, as Cameron says, ″⁣government performance has been a major factor driving the decline, which is much steeper in Australia than in other democracies around the world”.

Now we are back, baby. Our trust bounced when we elected this lot, led by Anthony Albanese. Cameron of Griffith says it’s typical for us to express hope and enthusiasm for the future when we elect a new government and don’t just give another chance to the old crew. With one exception.

In 2013 when we elected Tony Abbott, our faith had been destroyed during the whole Rudd-Gillard-Rudd mayhem of 2007 to 2013 – backstabbing, factionalism, pointless tribalism. In 2007, when it was time for Kevin 07, Rudd had the highest trust of any PM ever, yet Labor squandered that. By the time we voted for Abbott, we were a ruin of our former confident assertive selves. According to Australian Election Study data, Abbott was the least popular PM on record to that point. New data from ANU reveals that Morrison made Abbott look like a local hero.

And in a world of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, where it looked like our international siblings had it much worse, our distrust of government plunged at a greater rate than it did in either Britain or the US. This is what Morrison’s behaviour as PM and as leader of the government did to our valuable attitudes of trust in those who run our country. His sermon on Sunday is near clinically cynical and he’s clearly more at home in front of a Pentacostal congregation, unquestioning and faithful, than he was in front of the Australian population. Just a politician, standing in front of voters, asking them to love him. He will clearly be more at home on the US pastors’ circuit.

Anyhow, here we are, and Australian voters must become what Sarah Cameron describes as critical citizens. We did exactly that in the dying days of the Coalition as it shovelled many of its minions into high-paying sinecures (some are now “gracefully″⁣ resigning).

Our challenge will be to maintain our rage and use it for good. Look over Labor’s performance in exactly the same way you critiqued the Coalition. Go over the Greens. Test the teals. So much blowback for journalists last week when they critiqued Labor’s decision to stop pandemic payments. Yet here we are and Labor did the right thing. That didn’t happen by magic. That’s what scrutiny does for you. Brings you governments that live up to your expectations. Tanya Plibersek, we are watching with both fear and hope.

Be as tough on the party you voted for as you were on the one you despised. That’s the only way to keep politicians accountable, trustworthy. Just because you voted for them doesn’t mean they will be any good unless you make them that way. Morrison was wrong. You can trust governments but only if you hold them to account.