Now that the Conservatives have won power for the next three years, it is time for us all to actually remind them that we did not vote for a replay of Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison.

Scott Morrison won the election through a combination of being a small target, by spreading misleading rumours of death taxes, by preying on the financially illiterate, and by being so much more marketable than his opponent.

Scott Morrison led the country for six months of ineptitude and trickery, and his election win does not wipe away the history of those six months.

Remember that he actually promoted Peter Dutton back into the ministry, into the most powerful position in the country, after his own. That is not an oversight, it is a statement of intent. Dutton is very unpopular throughout the country, for reasons which are as obvious as they are repetitive. He appears to be the worst sort of bully, and his behaviour this week, where he ducked the media, seemingly slapped his Departmental Secretary with a wet lettuce leaf, after he became involved in the partisan politics of the day, was in character. Dutton says he spoke to him, but then immediately made it clear the man was justified in this act, although he acted inappropriately.

Dutton was also in charge of the Australian Federal Police, when they raided a journalist’s home, and also the ABC. I do not believe for a moment that the raids were not run past the Minister before they happened, but even if they were, they were conducted under the Westminster system, where the buck stops with the responsible Minister. So batten down for more of the same, for the next three years.

I have already written about the appointment of Angus Taylor into the Energy portfolio. He had Emissions Reduction added to his pre-election responsibilities, and that doubles the insult to the Australian people. This man wants to sponsor coal-fired power, and he does not like renewables. His appointment will appease the far right wing of the party and no-one else, but it will alienate every citizen who values the environment.

In my opinion Angus Taylor has also escaped scrutiny over his role in the water buy-back disgrace. Merely denying any benefit gained is not to my mind even close to adequate, and it is shameful and contemptuous of Scott Morrison to believe the Australian people are so gullible.

Scott Morrison went to the election crowing about an imaginary surplus, and a total absence of policies. That surplus appears to have dried up, as it always would have, because it was a forecast, and forecasts are just that, guesses. I would be prepared to wager that sometime within this term Mr Morrison will start to beg, borrow or steal some of Labor’s policies from prior to the election, because he has nothing else to offer, and a team of warriors who think their only task is to keep the other side out of power. This government has no discernible values.