With Trump fading into the distance, the attentions of progressives in Australia have turned back to Scott Morrison, a man who has barely figured for months in the political imagination.
With his comments about Australia Day 1788 — “it wasn’t a particularly flash day for the people on those vessels” — he magnificently brought it all back home and reminded us that, in this new era, we need to talk about ScoMo Derangement Syndrome.
ScoMo is driving progressives nuts — mostly because Labor is failing so absolutely at providing an alternative — which in turn makes progressive politics worse, and so on. The fantasy that the Morrison government is some sort of Trump-lite outfit is utterly distorting a political response.
To the boats comment first. Look, this was genuinely funny. I dunno if the intent was to be funny, but there it is. Firstly, it’s of dubious truthfulness: the First Fleet prisoners had been under sail for eight months, in dank holds, with weevilly biscuits and stagnant water for sustenance. Even if the fabled Botany Bay beach orgy has proved to be a myth, landfall was probably not the worst day of the experience.
Is ScoMo trying to get favour with victims of bad cruises or something? “They in 1788 also had to endure jugglers, and a disappointing buffet.”
But of course there was no rational or important point being made. The line was come up with in some Liberal backroom skunkworks as a way of rendering the whole Australia Day debate confused and misdirected. “What about the convicts huh?” is instantly confusing because yes, they were the English poor, political prisoners etc, but that’s not really the point about the huge event of colonisation, is it?
ScoMo’s interventionette means you have to spend five minutes explaining why the thought is misplaced, and by then the point is lost. It’s a measure of the weakness of Australia Day as a positive rallying point that the current right-wing response is to game it for a cheap shot.
The furious reaction to this wilfully absurdist moment indicates that many progressives are desperate to make Morrison and his government into right-wing culture warriors of an earlier era.
It’s such a bad fit to what Morrison is actually doing that one can only presume its purpose is self-serving — to give progressivism an identity, by way of antagonism, that it cannot supply to itself.
ScoMo’s comment was of a piece with other interventions on the culture front, which indicates that the Morrison government sees the culture wars of the 2000s as played out, and a culture-politics realignment underway.
The very limited changes to the national anthem, the 1788 Sitmar moment, and the release of 20-plus refugee/prisoners from hotel detention in Melbourne are clear indications that the Morrison government wants to avoid the sort of grand confrontations that defined the Howard government, and that Tony Abbott briefly revived as a Dada fringe performance.
The reasons are not hard to see: the demographic changes in the suburban middle classes which form the Liberal base. With Greens and teal candidates getting 23% votes in blue-ribbon seats, and rural seats under pressure from the various “voices” independent movements, someone in the Liberal skunkworks presumably realises that the progressive/multicultural moment has happened.
We are no longer, in urban centres, an anglo society, and the prosperous middle classes are no longer socially conservative. The Howard government had more than a touch of European style kulturkampf politics about it; Morrison’s moves, like changing two words of the anthem to minimally decolonise it, is classically Burkean conservative, controlling change to preserve an overall set-up.
(Of course, it’s a game of two sides; for every anthem change, there’s a Margaret Court gong. But it’s not exactly children overboard.)
The subsequent construction of Morrison by many progressives is one of the greatest acts of political misperception currently running.
It’s one Labor joins in, trying to lean on some notion of ScoMo as a content-free flim-flam guy, and his government’s moves on the social/culture front as cynical hypocrisy. Is there any indication that the mass of Australians believe this to be the case?
The change to the anthem’s words was met with a type of fury. Yet I’d presume that it aligns with the degree of change wanted by most non-Indigenous Australians — a dispensing of colonial ideals of the country, without committing to being defined by historical guilt.
Like it or not, that’s how most people want to think about the country. The simple administrative rewrite of the anthem doesn’t look like spin to them: it looks like the essence of good government.
The bitter fact for progressives to accept is that Morrison is now perceived as a quietly competent leader, avoiding the chaos seen in the UK and US, and not pushing his own religious values into the general social space.
Culturally, he’s governing to the left of himself in a country that has avoided the upsurge of a right in anything like the way that has occurred in the US, the UK or continental Europe.
The attempt by elite progressive opinion to construct a sort of imminent Trumpism here is absurd, and is simply a compensating mechanism for the absence of a genuinely left progressive program that should come from a Labor party currently consumed by a new leadership stoush.
Given that the most racist thing going on in Australia at the moment — the Black gulag in NT that it calls a justice system — is Labor bought and sold, there’s a bit to do on our side. This isn’t the US, and ScoMo ain’t Trump lite.
How can the opposition and progressives turn things around? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication in Crikey’s Your Say section.
First of all we need to remember that there are only two seats keeping the Morrison government propped up. Hardly a landslide.
Labor needs to keep developing their policies and keep working on shoring their support within their constituencies as well as reaching out to those marginal seats. And to avoid being distracted by their enemies within the conservative media. One weakness that the libs have is arrogance and hubris which could come back to bite them.
Well spotted Fez – if the recent ACT elections tell us anything, it’s that the Greens are benefiting from defections from traditionally rusted on ALP and LNP. Two seats? The Greens can do and just maybe create some change if it holds the balance of power after the next fed election.
I would like it to be the case, but the ACT (where I grew up) is a poor model for the rest of the country…
Murder Murdoch and run the Clivosaurus under one of his ore trucks, then we might have a chance.
How can the opposition and progressives turn things around?
As Guy alluded to, the outrage/ridicule angle to Morrison’s faux reforms (where he throws a bone towards “progress”, while changing nothing systemic) won’t work.
The opposition simply need to sell to the masses that the reforms they want to make are to fix MAJOR, URGENT problems the country faces.
They need to capitalise on the economic uncertainty brought about by covid to push the MAJOR and URGENT need for proper economic and tax reform.
They also need to capitalise on last years bushfires and smoke choked cities to push the MAJOR and URGENT need for proper climate change policy.
Their challenge is to sell the message that nothing short of systemic, real reform will fix the major issues the country faces in the near future.
If they do that, tokenistic changes like a word change to the anthem will be seen by all for what they are- fiddling around the edges.
The opposition should not spend 1% of their time focusing in on what Scomo and co are doing.
100% of their time, effort and energy should be spent on selling to the masses the severity and urgency of the problems their reforms will address.
Joe and Jane Voter need to know about the major social and economic COSTS to the country that lack of Aboriginal reconciliation creates…before they will get upset that Scomo is just being tokenistic.
As the party who is spruiking the cures, Labor need to be the party who informs the masses of the diseases the country has (and their effects).
After the shafting of excellent policies in the last election, I’m inclined to believe Labor should push one or two simple, popular policies and leave the difficult to explain ones like franking credits till after they’ve got in.
They’ve already ruled out revisiting the franking credits issue. Probably a good thing as many self funded retirees have seen their dividends and franking credits drastically slashed during the pandemic. Maybe later, and definitely do it incrementally for gawd’s sake.
It’s a fine line to tread.
Tony Abbott of course tried the back door, post election approach to major reform with his diabolical 2014 budget, which of course resulted in him becoming half-term tony.
I think labor need to sit down and realistically assess their chances of success in their ability to sell the severity and urgency of each reform area.
They then need to scale the magnitude of reforms they put forward accordingly.
I.e. if they think they have a great (realistic) shot at successfully selling the message to the middle class that climate change is causing us massive social and economic problems now… and it’s only going to get worse- then they should be pushing for large reforms.
If however, they think they can’t realistically sell the severity and urgency of the problem of climate change- then they need to bide their tiny and go to the election with a baby steps reform agenda.
Scomo and co’s faux reforms work as a strategy when people think the problem is minor or undefined.
Labor need to be mindful that they are up against humanity’s natural aversion to change.
People will vote for change, but only when it has been made clear that standing still is a bad idea.
I agree with that. I definitely don’t suggest being deceptive, it’s just that it seemed the franking credits thing scared people who were never likely to ever be affected. A good, clear policy like a federal ICAC could be popular.
Federal icac is another great example of a pretend reform Scomo is wedging Labor on.
Again, I think the response from Labor needs to be to ignore attacking the toothless tiger proposed by Scomo and instead focus 100% on hammering into middle class minds the damage that is being caused to the country by a lack of a REAL icac federally.
If they do a good job selling the sizzle, the voters will buy the sausage they are selling come election time….. because Scomo’s ‘reform’ will look like the week old servo hotdog it is.
I don’t think ‘wedging’ is the right term here, Damien. They’ve been hiding their draft ICAC thing for quite a while. It’s an issue they’ve run away from for years, like the Banking RC; I’d say they’re more the victims of an unintended ‘wedge’ than the perpetrators. The popular will, according to polls, is for something the Libs can’t stomach.
Well, they were scared largely because of the fear campaign waged by the MSM, especially News Corp.
Yes, ICAC should be a winner for Labor.
The franking credits issue was amplified for spurious, ideological reasons, as ever by NewsCorpse.
Labor fought, and continues to fight, two opponents.
A fine line indeed. The government’s ineptitude provides so much to work with, but as franking credits showed, it’s so easy to scare the horses (or provide the ammunition to do so). Unfortunately governments are rarely thrown out just for being incompetent and corrupt.
re “humanity’s natural aversion to change” … how about this as a positioning strategy for progressives?
we need to change the way we do politics, before the planet changes how we live
or variations on that theme
we need to change the way we’re governed, before climate changes our lives forever
or something
I’m with you with this approach. As Keating said with important issues, you build a narrative. But you can only do that from Government.
Yeah, and stick to ground which is relatively firm under their feet, like climate, stagnant wage growth, job insecurity, education. But they have to stop resting on laurels, if they have any, and avoid the assumption they’ve got those issues all tied up.
Labor get caught out with policies sounding like dry social science dissertations, easily attacked, versus several logical yet simple slogans to represent policies generally; if power is gained then it’s Labors choice if the same policies are fully implemented or not.
And follow the advice of the Liberal Party’s electoral strategist Lynton Crosby, go the heart and go negative, as positive lacks traction with the electorate….. suppose it’s why too many conservatives always need something to whinge and moan about….. and are catered to with much dog whistling, fear, anxiety and/or complaining….
The thing about Trump is that he was/is all about divisiveness. Whenever he had an opportunity to abuse Democrats and build up his base he did it (eg think the endless opportunities building a wall)… the more divisiveness the better.
Yesterday in the US an aggressive push was started to stop this nonsense. So perhaps there is a vacuum emerging for nasty divisiveness.
Morrison is no Trump, but he does try to emulate him, The “flash day” comment is out of the Trump playbook even if it is a mild form of it.
My take is that it will be noticed internationally and Morrison needs to stop this nonsense if he doesn’t want to be in the international glare as trying to keep the Trump divisiveness alive.
Just seems to me that calling the ‘flash day’ remark Trumpian exaggerates pretty conventional spin politics. Trumpian is calling on Russia to hack yr own state dept, and telling fascist militia to ‘stand by’. Its a high bar…
na mate. The knee-jerking sentiment extends (rather than exaggerates) the spin-politics.
Fair enough Guy, but I think by focusing on the mild position Morrison is taking in the ongoing ‘culture wars’ and talking about perceptions of him as quietly competent, you are taking the bait. This government has a big project but it’s definitely not about culture or policy. It’s good old fashioned cronyism and government for mates. Shielding the coal industry from emissions reductions, reforms to the gas market that are as stiff as a warm lettuce leaf, boldly going where no national government has gone before to make Google and FB pay Rupert and Nine, gutting the banking royal commission recommendations affecting banks and financial planners, nobbling not-for-profit super. Oh and who can forget Sports Rorts and the less-covered but even bigger regional grants pork barrel.
Agreed (in the main) Brian but then we need a media to articulate those sentiments in a rational (not knee-jerkeking emotional) manner and don’t hope for Cky.
Guy…Your whole bloody article is bulls+it. You lost me after your statement that Morrison was ‘quietly competent’.
Jeez…where have you been for the past few years? If it wasn’t for the State premiers, we would be in the same situation as the UK and USA RIGHT NOW…and I’m not only talking about the pandemic. Most of the States are light years ahead of the Feds on climate change for instance.
This current federal government
…and its leader, are a JOKE!!
(Sorry…didn’t finish my sentence above)
Glad I didn’t have to wait too long for someone to point it out, CML.
‘Quietly freakin’ COMPETENT!!??’
What is the matter with these people? They’re lost in a wilderness of ‘bs extremis’.
That’s not ‘political analysis’, it’s capitulation!
Want some reasoned analysis? Go to the tube facility, and find yourself the stable known as; “Animated Stats”.
Start with steel production. It’s takes you through the last 100 years, condensed down to 3 minutes.
Watch the last couple of decades. The closing out of that animation paints an extraordinary picture. I thought I had a reasonable conception of the scale of the transformation, but I was staggered.
I froze the final frames, rolled on down doing a rough total, and found the 2nd – 20th odd producers of steel now made only around 60% in sum, of what the Chinamen make on their own!
It is staggering what they’ve achieved. There are dozens of such ‘animations’, covering everything from renewables, to agricultural commodities, in interest rate paid on deposits.
While steel production is the headline act (being a reasonable measure of an industrial economy), the vast majority of the animations don’t contradict the obvious conclusion, i.e.
This game’s already over, and the West is just stuck trying to muster their dwindling resources to deny the inevitable.
Another emblematic animation is gold production – that quinella I got right. The 2 kings of ‘de-dollarisation’, those 2 damn neighbours.
And, if you understand the concept of measuring inflation against ‘hard assets’, as opposed to the fraudulent and desperately manipulated measure against other fiat currencies, you’ll appreciate an inflation ‘bomb’ is coming.
As a further hint, did you know somewhere b/w 60 & 70% of all cash US$’s have been ‘printed’ since the beginning of CY 2020 – less that 13 months?
Yet, the ‘velocity of money’ has collapsed.
Go figure…………….
The other bog obvious conclusion?
You have to have a plan!!
Settle petal. Guy did not say Morrison was competent he said perceived as which is backed up by his depressingly high approval rating…
The bitter fact for progressives to accept is that Morrison is now perceived as a quietly competent leader, avoiding the chaos seen in the UK and US, and not pushing his own religious values into the general social space.
And, there we have it. Take the time for a rebuttal, and off we go to ‘awaiting for approval’.
Kinda proves the point of the attempted rebuttal.
Still, not long to go with the subscription, and like The Age, I will not be back.
No huff, just refuse to be treated as an imbecile, particularly by ‘comfy practitioners’.
I’ll just stick to Russkie state telly, about which the great American journo, Chris Hedges, who is provided agency by Russkie state telly, recently said;
‘RT raises issues corporate controlled media doesn’t want raised’ – Chris Hedges”
About the only to place to also see Pilger, too – and others.
Quite! It is somewhat asymmetric when a comment or three is more acute than the article; to say nothing of the down-voters of fact (that is verifiable because it is fact).
Someone, only a matter of days ago, declared, more or less, that quantum computers remain experimental. Yet RT (14 Jan. instant) reported, extensively, on the reality of the machine developed (guess where) in the PRC.
I’m not criticising the subscriber but it *is* instructive to observe that the event went unreported in mainstream global media.
In principle, Australia could have done the same but with a perverted tax code and a grossly, scientifically, ignorant parliament there is no basis for optimism and so we get left further behind.
‘‘Twas me, E, as you know, and I still doubt the veracity of the article from RT, having had personal conversations with a world leader on the subject.
I put it in the same argument as AI, where anything better than an abacus is instantly called AI, but it isn’t really. Not truly ruley. I hope we can agree to disagree.
I think we are both long enough in the tooth to appreciate the effects of propaganda, DB, but I have also mentioned the extensive Technology Parks in about a dozen major (special zone) cities. They are about a dozen times larger than old brick Australian universities and equally well landscaped (different to Mao – huh [?] who banned flowers for a spell) .
If you follow the story you will find very promising leads but the main point he *IS* the commitment to R&D. If a mob of biochemist receive a paltry $150k for a few odds and ends for a lab in Australia they think all their birthdays have arrived. Back to sleep Oz.
True, D but perceived is the same as believing for some – don’t shoot the messenger. Guy is just telling it how it is. Morrison will benefit popularity wise from Canberra’s initial,and pragmatic approach to the covid emergency. Cormann rightly claimed the Govt “had no choice” re emergency financial support. It would have meant political suicide for the LNP if it didn’t follow the UK’s example re jobkeeper.But those that were randomly/unjustifiably excluded from essential financial support – ie casuals, uni employees, intnl students etc – and the govt’s abrogation of responsibility re protecting aged care residents is where the Govt failed miserably. The stuff up by Border Control was also unacceptable, but blame was deflected. Whether these failures will be remembered by voters and come to haunt Morrison at the next election who knows, time may will tell.
Oops that was directed to David.
🙂 Clearly! 🙂 And thanks for helping out with explanations!
Seems the algos don’t much fancy dissenting argument, d, given the frequency of rebuttals being disappeared down the ‘awaiting for approval’ hole.
Meh. Symptomatic, more broadly. Was pretty much done with the ‘dinner party’, anyway, so be it.
Try dot points mate. The literate will comprehend.
The “flash day” comment is out of the Trump playbook even if it is a mild form of it.
Yep, it’s a mild form of Trump’s Charlotteville moment:
“You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
Idiotic, but also a dog-whistle to the so-called ‘Morrison’s tradies’ lot.
Yep, without doubt, Cap’n
As if we’re not depressed enough, another term of this frightful corrupt Govt with a policy free agenda would cause a huge increase in suicide amongst “progressives”
I read Morrison’s comments as that classic move from the alt-right playbook of saying something egregious and moving on before he can be pinned down.
I suspect he’s just trying to get through Aus Day as the broad based dialogue about it is just to real for him to handle. It breaks his mould as the daggy dad and he wants to get back to solid ground.
Agree, Rob. The Daggy Dad positioning was misconceived – who identifies with, or aspires to be one brain cell above a sentimental redneck?
Is that ‘alt-right’, or just politics?
GR suggests this was a thought through moment. I suspect it was just another daggy dad/embarrassing uncle remark that got through.
One shoul never assume strategy when mere incompetence is sufficient explanation.
Hear hear
I agree; it was off the top of his head, hence the colloquial ‘flash’. It’s a wonder he didn’t add the objectionable put-down ‘pal’, ‘my friend’, or ‘champ’ for good measure. To sum it up, it was really just a bit of spontaneous whataboutery, and very stupid.
But that’s the whole point of the contrived “daggy dad” persona – if he stuffs up and/or taps into racist sentiments, it’s only because he’s human. Not all, but some LNP members of his base especially in Nth Qld relate to this identity “positioning”.