Politics

This week Scott Morrison was given a lesson in the sort of diplomacy needed to deal with China, the bully that also happens to be our biggest trading partner. It was a jarring reminder, on the cusp of an election year, that the almost decade-old Coalition government is no longer fit for purpose.

It has been nine months since tens of thousands of people across 40 cities in Australia joined the ‘March 4 Justice’ rallies on March 15. We were motivated by the myriad gendered injustices we’d seen and experienced in our lives, but catalysed very specifically by the horrific stories emerging from Parliament House.

Surprisingly to many, the Coalition has consistently maintained its poll lead over Labor on the question of who would be ‘preferred economic managers’. Although there are a host of other issues that will feature in the coming election campaign – most relating to questions of integrity, accountability and climate change – Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg will undoubtedly seek to run on economic management.

Three years after winning the leadership, the reality is setting in about Scott Morrison. The chance of him winning again are slimmer than before. The idea that he is a government unifier and a change from Malcolm Turnbull has shifted. The photo opportunities aren’t cutting through anymore.

So you want to be an independent in the next federal parliament. You’ve had enough of the two-party game-playing of the Westminster system and believe there should be a better way of doing politics, something different to the traditional headbutting and pointscoring. You’re sick of the way in which the major parties impose political staffers and time-servers on the electorate. This article gives you some idea of what you may expect during the campaign and, if successful, what to expect if elected. It is based on the experience of someone who was an independent at both state and federal level for 22 years.

Now the various independents’ movements are gaining genuine momentum in a number of key seats, having identified good, strong, community-based candidates and launching their campaigns for the next federal election, it is instructive to contemplate how different our politics and government would be if they were successful and indeed may hold the balance of power, at least in the lower house.

If the last fortnight of parliament for the year is any guide, Labor has its tail up and the government is in the doldrums. The lack of engagement from the Coalition backbench as the prime minister and his ministers slugged it out with the opposition was one thing, but the dead giveaway was the sitting schedule for next year.

Secret evidence, secret hearings and secret judgements. Each step in the prosecution of Bernard Collaery comes with another layer of opacity. If it were not so serious, the accumulation of secrecy in this case would be comedic. Secrecy heaped upon secrecy for secrecy’s sake. A secrecy onion? But this case is no laughing matter. At stake are transparency and accountability.

It has been a widely held perception that politicians can play fast and loose with the truth. As with those who sell used cars, they manipulate data and events to suit what they think will be to their short-term political advantage. Donald Trump elevated this to an art form, claiming those who disagreed with him or questioned him on an issue were spreading what he called ‘fake news’.

Anthony Albanese is convinced the tide is going out on the Morrison government. Scott Morrison senses it too, but, like King Canute, he is desperately trying to prove he’s still in control. The embattled prime minister is being swamped by almost unprecedented disunity and defiance of his authority within his ruling Coalition.