Tag Archives: Frydenberg

Can Morrison be saved?


February was the time for the big re-set. National Press Club address, assorted ministers as support, Murdoch journalists at the ready. He was welcomed by Laura Tingle. That was probably his last moment of tranquility. She opened proceedings by asking him if he would like to take the opportunity to apologise for his and his government’s performance. She included the bushfires, and the trip to Hawaii. A tough start.

Then after a typical speech where he invoked the curious amnesiac defence, he re-wrote recent Australian history; the bushfires, the pandemic, the vaccine strollout, the opening up of the borders, the lack of RATs, were all roaring successes. If anything ruined his perfect memories, it was his delay in using the military to deliver the vaccines. But Australians were resilient. Even his being surprised by the Omicron strain was just the nature of the virus. Anyone could have been caught wrong-footed.

Except he had had the advantage of watching its devastating advance through the northern hemisphere. He opened up in a massive gamble which has caused more deaths than the previous two years, and rising. His greatest strength, of having ‘handled’ the pandemic has turned into a failure. He can’t shift blame on the aged care crisis, because the electorate has finally understood it is a federal responsibility.

Peter van Onselen then got up and blew his efforts at rehabilitation out of the water. Peter is a conservative journalist, and he can be relied on to usually normalise most of the government’s shoddy performance, but this time he had different intentions. He demolished Morrison, personally, by quoting a couple of texts to him, on national TV. A reset, perhaps, but in the wrong direction.

Gladys Berejiklian had called him a “horrible, horrible person”. An unnamed Liberal cabinet minister had labelled him a “psycho”. The journalist did not identify the source. This was the stuff usually discussed in a closed room of huddled advisers. It was riveting TV, with Morrison unable to attack back, or to deny the substance. He couldn’t even reject the premise of the question. The journalist had become the story, with Morrison the collateral damage.

By the end of the week, most of the cabinet had handed in their denials of being ‘the leaker’. Canberra was lit up by the drama. The culprit has not been hunted down yet, but he was about to be up-staged by the one and only Barnaby Joyce.

By the end of the week, Barnaby Joyce was warned that one of his own texts, sent via a third party, to Brittany Higgins, was about to be leaked. As he invariably does, Barnaby took the bull by the horns, and confessed to his own disloyal text, and enjoyed a small victory of beating ‘the Barnaby leaker’. He had called Morrison a “liar and a hypocrite” amongst other things. To a third party, of all people, from an MP, and ex Deputy Prime Minister. How secure was that text chain?

The National Press Club was booked, the next week, to host an appearance by two of the most popular young women in Australia – Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins. The problem for Morrison is that not only are these women joined by a common goal, of making women safe, but they also openly jeer at his lack of action to protect women, both in the parliament, and in society at large.

Of course he has been clueless in many of his interactions with them, but they are a generation prepared to throw away the etiquette book, and to demand change. Attacking them is risky, because they have captured the public imagination.

Their addresses were different, but shared a theme that the Morrison Government had talked the talk, but had not followed through with actions.

In the meantime, Peter Dutton and Josh Frydenberg have begun counting numbers, and attacking Anthony Albanese, because they feel the panic. Opinion polls have been disastrous. It is as if a dam has burst. Can Morrison retain the government’s leadership as we head into another election?

Dutton has engaged in scurrilous attacks accusing Albanese of being a communist China sympathiser, and casting Labor as weak on national security. This from a defence minister who appears way too nervous and frisky to handle any real dispute with China, and who scares all of us with his intemperate language.

Frydenberg continues to hysterically lambaste Albanese with the curious attack line that he has never had a Treasury portfolio. As many have pointed out, neither had Robert Menzies, John Gorton, Malcolm Fraser, Tony Abbott, or Malcolm Turnbull. It is presumed that Mr Albanese can count, which is a skill Frydenberg continues to search for.

The question is who do we think we can bear for the next three months of escalating personal attacks on the Opposition Leader? Scomo, Dutts or Joshie? May the lord save us all.

JobKeeper was just another rort (but big!)


When this Government decides on a program which distributes taxpayers’ money, it seems that they never start with a blank sheet of paper. The spreadsheets might be pre-populated with Coalition seats, as in the case of the “sports rorts affair”, although some of the cash went to vulnerable seats, which might, under favourable conditions, swing back to the coalition.

The arrival of the pandemic was akin to a miracle, in that it swept in just in time to save Morrison from the escalating scandal, which had already claimed Bridget McKenzie’s scalp. It would have eventually worked its way up to Morrison, because his fingerprints were all over this program. Morrison was implicated as the architect, and the chief beneficiary, of the cash splash.

The timing was, if not close to being criminal, at least cynical and immoral. Just before an election, arguably some crucial funding decisions were taken after the caretaker period began. Caretaker mode means that the Government refrains from making major decisions, because the House of Representatives is dissolved, as is half the Senate. There is effectively no legislative powers, until the next government is sworn in. Everyone in Canberra knows the rules. They also know it is a convention only, so no problem there.

There is another rule, about governing for the whole country. That is where funds are allocated on a needs basis. Not on where you live, or how you vote, but on your needs. So, every one of his team who received, and then announced, their ill-gotten gains had a moral duty to return the funds. But, as it is a moral question, the Morrison Government failed to admit to the rort, and failed to rectify it.

$1.1 MILLION TO UPGRADE AND REPLACE SPORTING FACILITIES IN KOOYONG

That is the headline from Frydenberg’s announcement pre-election. The local member, Josh Frydenberg, is the Treasurer, and he was when this program unfolded. He oversaw $150 million being squandered on buying votes, and he did not object. Was that because he didn’t expect to win the election, and they were shifting the deck chairs on the Titanic? His announcement of the grant to Kooyong sporting clubs was made on May 3, 2019, fully 15 days prior to the election. So much for fiscal rectitude, or for following the spirit of the conventions.

Not only is Kooyong one of the wealthiest areas in Australia, its sporting facilities are second to none. Kooyong should have been the last place chosen, if the program was decided on a needs basis. Do not expect the local member to hand anything back. He suffered a swing of 8.2% against, even with the electoral sweetener.

The car-parks rort was more of the same, except four times bigger, and even clumsier. $660 million was offered to MPs who didn’t even have to ask for the money. The scheme was launched by preparing a list of 20 top marginal seats, and inviting the sitting MP to nominate projects for funding. Both the sports rort and the car-parks rort involved the same staff member from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Keeping JobKeeper secret

So why are we surprised when Morrison and Frydenberg ‘design’ JobKeeper, and lo and behold, the main beneficiaries are Liberal supporters and donors. Already red-faced with excitement at the prospect of their promised tax cuts, here is the Treasurer offering them more free money, with no strings attached. They don’t even have to prove eligibility. All they need to do is guess that their turnover will fall, and the money starts to flow. If they erred, no problem. No need to pay it back, we don’t engage in the politics of envy.

Another quirk of the system is that public companies can be shamed into paying it back if it wasn’t needed, because the ATO released a list of the companies who claimed JobKeeper, but were later found to be ineligible, or not in need.

Private companies were protected by their veil of secrecy, which is even now being extended by the Government. Their latest recruit in protecting the names of the companies has been Pauline Hanson. She was apparently rewarded for her support, by being allowed to announce a Fitzroy Community Hospice upgrade in Rockhampton, to which the Treasurer had pledged $8 million. That is how things are done by this Government. Very transactional.

In his defence to charges that he had mishandled the scheme, Mr Frydenberg said the JobKeeper scheme deliberately did not include a claw-back provision, because it might have made the companies stop and think about their eligibility, which could have caused a delay.

I know, he is the Treasurer, and he does obsess about deficits, and he espouses small government. This was despite $6 billion in emergency funding flowing to 150,000 companies who actually increased their turnover last year. Labor MP Andrew Leigh has called it the biggest waste of taxpayer money in Australian history.

We know from the Parliamentary Budget Office that $13 billion was funnelled into companies whose sales rose during the period covered by JobKeeper, and a further $15 billion was given to companies whose sales didn’t fall by 30 or 50 per cent.

What Australian voters want is an honest Government which does not play games with our money, and does not spend most of its time devising tricky schemes to deceive voters. We also want to know that the Government is fair. Relentlessly pursuing Centrelink clients for tiny debts incurred by Centrelink’s own errors does not align with letting our largest private companies off, when we know many of them did not qualify for JobKeeper, but chose to keep the money, because the Prime Minister and his Treasurer told them they could.

Team Australia-some key players


2020 has been a tough year. Let us take a look at the list, where they are at, what they have produced in 2020, and what we can expect in season 2021.

I want to take a look at the players first, and leave the evaluation of the coach to last. Obviously he has a huge impact on the players, and as a playing coach, there are questions about his ability to coach, and also play. Has he been trying to do too much?

Michael McCormack – elevated to vice-captain last year. A real ‘smokey’ from the bush. Appears to lack much in the way of natural ability, but is a great advocate of team spirit. Many struggle to understand why he is even in the team, but he does bring a folksy type of earnestness, with an amateurish vaudevillian ‘shtick’ to the post-match press conferences. Will probably stay, and play in the back pocket. A leader of sorts – of a small group of players who are somewhat lost in the ‘big smoke’.

Josh Frydenberg – a flashy forward type, he started the season strongly, very confident, much hype about being ‘back in black’. Has a tendency to ‘mouth off’ early, and often, in games, and rue his words later. Had a couple of real shockers during the season, especially when he came up against Dan Andrews. Andrews seemed to spook him, causing some unnecessary own-goals. Josh follows the game plan to the letter; which can cause a lack of creativity. Has leadership aspirations.

Mathias Cormann – has retired from the game, although he is angling for a spot on the Commission. Seems to have enthusiastic backing from the team, from the coach down, but not a fan favourite. Led the backs; a dour, miserable type. Not able to accommodate changes in the game plan. Particularly evasive on the need to adapt to renewable aspects of defence. Stolid defender of the indefensible.

Peter Dutton – the enforcer of the team. A towering, cadaverous type. Learnt most of his moves in the Queensland Police Force, so no stranger to questionable tactics. Rumoured to still harbour leadership aspirations, after unsuccessful tilt last year. Also known as a keen sledger, especially if his opponents wear green jumpers. Still able to unsettle the opposition. Dutton will continue to project menace.

Christian Porter – something of a strategist, known to play and to work hard. Can be a force when the going is good, but retreats when under attack. Something of a showy front runner. Treads a fine line with the umpires. He knows the rules, and he often plays outside the spirit of the game. Once touted for a future leadership role, but off-field issues have set his ambitions back. Expect a red-hot pre-season next year.

Greg Hunt – small, rover type, light and quick on his feet. Quick to pile in on opponents, if someone else starts it. Involved in an unseemly mass attack on Dan Andrews, when he was down, earlier in the season. Known to go where he is sent, no real commitment to a particular position. Swapped his style of play in climate arena, when told to. Apparently an expert in mitigation, prior to being elevated to the Firsts.

Angus Taylor – a likely looking type, but given to unforced errors. Known to be extremely selfish around goals, and to play for his position, rather than the team. Came in as an early round pick, with a decorated early career, but he has consistently misfired in the big league. Some think that he had it too easy, too early, and that he will improve when he acclimatises to the level of the competition. He seems to lack basic judgement, however. Does not read the ball well, and the fans have given up on him.

Alan Tudge – an unassuming half-back flanker type, he has shown a real desire for the contest, but an unsettling level of aggression towards opponents. This can spill over to members of the crowd, and his outbursts of uncontrolled aggression have him in the umpires’ sights. He causes damage wherever he goes, and the coach must be careful where he plays him. Known to have off-field issues, but not a contender for the leadership group, so not crucial.

Scott Morrison – Captain-Coach, centre half-forward. Looks more like a rugby player, but certainly an adaptable type. Many consider him to be an all-rounder, someone in the mould of a Ted Whitten, or a Ron Barassi. Unlike those legends of the game, however, he seems to have risen to leadership with not much to show us in the way of skills, strategy, or tactical nous. He has, however, been a tremendous survivor.

Traded out by several other teams previously, he landed with Team Australia, just as it began to disintegrate. He was a member of the leadership group under Captains Abbott and Turnbull, and was lucky to be ‘last man standing’ when the dust settled. He led the team into 2019, and won the flag, against all expectations.

Morrison is religious, and attributes the win to a miracle. Most rational judges reckon it was lucky, and that the other team failed to show up on Grand Final day. Whatever the reason, Morrison’s team won, and he has been hailed as a genius ever since.

Anyway, he plays all over the ground, showing no particular level of skill, but a determination to dominate every aspect of every game. He is intensely tribal, and you know that he brings full commitment to winning. He is known for his powers of evasion, and his slipperiness in a tackle. He seems to be able to change tactics at a moment’s notice, and to change the game plan to suit the mood of the day. He has been accused of debasing the game, and lowering standards.

At the moment he is unchallenged, however, because the team continues to win. He seems to be able to hang on, even when he personally puts in a shocker. He and his team have been accused of flouting the rules openly, but he has managed to evade being brought to account.

In today’s winner-take-all environment, he is leading a team of poorly performed players, almost single handedly, to what looks like another flag. The commentariat is asleep, and he will continue to dominate the game until the fans rise up, and demand change.

Wouldn’t life be marvellous, if it was as simple as a footy game? Sadly, it is not.