If you believe much of what you read and hear from Nine, News Corp and the ABC’s political journalists, Scott Morrison is a political genius tuned into middle Australia who is cruising effortlessly towards another election win later this year against a hapless Anthony Albanese.
It’s much more rare for the mainstream media to point to the more prosaic reality: that Morrison only has a two-seat majority and — despite Australia handling the pandemic very well, a stronger-than-expected economic recovery and the government splashing out half a trillion dollars in deficit spending — the Coalition is stuck at 50-50 in the polls.
What the prime minister is very good at, as everyone knows, is political theatre, media management and spin, which acts as a cover for a lack of substance.
He never had an agenda for government and was only saved in that department by the pandemic. Just this week he claimed his government wouldn’t undertake any significant reform for the rest of this year i.e. until after the next election (cue collapse of stout party at the reliable chorus for neoliberal reform, the AFR).
The usually skilful media management of the prime minister’s office, however, has had a distinctly Noises Off quality this week over climate denialist, Trump apologist and COVID-19 misinformation machine Craig Kelly.
Morrison has been trying to wave off Kelly’s dangerous conspiracy theories about, inter alia, Trump being robbed of victory and quack cures for COVID for months. Until recently his preferred line was “it’s a free country”, as if he was, in addition to being prime minister, some benign guarantor of free-flowing debate.
On Monday, when asked about Kelly by ABC journalist and National Press Club president Laura Tingle, he smirkingly dismissed her question and declared Kelly was “doing a great job in Hughes”.
Within about 24 hours, and after Kelly teamed up with anti-vax loon Pete Evans for a podcast, the “great job” line was abandoned, and journalists carefully briefed that Morrison had called Kelly to warn him to watch his social media use.
At least Ten’s Hugh Riminton resisted the narrative and expressed scepticism. Peter van Onselen, as always, also called bullshit.
Another resister was Kelly himself, who completely ignored Morrison and told the ABC “he would continue pushing for Australia’s medical authorities to change their position” and that experts would “have egg on their face”.
If a Labor leader had sought to pull a backbencher into line and been so publicly defied, you can imagine the headlines. But that would confound the Morrison-as-political-titan narrative, so that was quietly ignored until Tanya Plibersek, doing what Morrison, his health minister and every other cabinet minister had failed to do, and had a crack at Kelly face to face.
With his first piece of media management so publicly failed and Kelly so completely undeterred, Morrison had to react with another piece of theatre. Kelly was “hauled in” and “dressed down” by Morrison after the stoush with Plibersek. How do we know? Well, his office told journalists that that was what happened. We specifically know that Kelly was “hauled in” and “dressed down” because… well, see for yourself:
Morrison had “hauled in rogue Liberal MP Craig Kelly for a face-to-face dressing down”.
Morrison “called Mr Kelly into his office for a 30-minute private dressing down” (the URL of that story says “hauls”).
Morrison “hauled Mr Kelly into his office for a dressing down”.
“Craig Kelly has been called into the prime minister’s office for a ‘dressing down’.”
“The PM has hauled Craig Kelly into his office for a face to face dressing down.”
“Kelly was immediately hauled in for what the Prime Minister’s Office described as a dressing down.”
Fancy. It was less than 48 hours since Kelly was deemed by Morrison to be doing a great job in Hughes. And they say a week is a long time in politics.
Where were the headlines about a backbencher flagrantly flouting the PM’s authority? About Morrison’s spectacular U-turn in less than two days from enthusiastically lauding Kelly to a theatrical wrist slap? What much of the press gallery, with a couple of notable exceptions, gave us was pre-prepared narrative of Morrison the authoritative leader flexing his political muscles.
Kelly’s conspiracy theories and attacks on science remain on his Facebook for his adoring far-right followers. You can still read his climate denialism, his conspiracy theories, his Trump-was-robbed claims, his endorsement of rank quackery.
Kelly is ignoring another “dressing down” from Morrison. Don’t let that interfere with the narrative though.
I prefer the description given in The Guardian Australia by Mr First Dog OntheMoon. Kelly was given a “stern dressing gown.”
Yes, that made me chuckle.
And I’m sure Kelly will behave himself and move graciously away from the limelight. Until he gets an interview request from 2GB or SAD, or somebody from News Corpse wants to hear from a politician, who sounds just like one of their columnists. Which should be happening right about now.
That is just so funny. I can’t stop laughing bwahahaha… A populist cartoonist and a populist journalist in bed together. Which one’s got the top bunk and which ones got the bottom bunk?
“Populist journalist”??
Afraid so. At first the obvious choice would be BK for being on top. But I hear he does n’t mind a bit of “restraining” and is often found in “closets” at parties. So that might put the cart”loon”ist in the running for the top position. Especially when he’s known for inflicting a bit of B&D on anybody who disagrees with him and his lefty populist cart”loon”s. There, it’s settled.
Ps, Doggie style.
Good call Bernard. The “Morrison as political genius” line irks me. So many journalists seem to just spit out press releases.
And to think the Government wants Google and Facebook to pay for this junk
And much of the press gallery keeps wondering why they get so much heat on social media. And then cry that people are mean to them and close ranks telling eachother that they are just doing their job. You know, ofcourse they have to report it, right? They are a blight on this country and can FRO.
They do like to feed off each other. One makes a comment, then the rest pile on and build the original “fact” into a national headline. All puff.
If they actually did do their job Morrison would not have managed to keep the job he knifed Turnbull to get. He’s a two bit conman helped by two bit reporters.
Remember how the Mudracker Murdoch journo’s were afronted when no credibility Credlin was shooting of her mouth at the Andrews media confrences. How the SKY reporters cried foul over how people were lambasting Credlin!
Yet here we are,no crrdubility got slammed by K.Rudd for disinformation that she tried to make facts.
Ironic is it not, that these Muckracker mob including SKY think they get spread bu** sh* t without it leaving them stink!
Then watch them dig in (to their righteousness) when criticised.
If you ever needed any evidence of just how fallible they really are – that they are not impartial or objective enough to report news – just watch. (Fanning last night – The Dum – trying to lessen the bad look of the NSW/Fed “bush-fire funding” rort – going on at Emerson about “playing the role” of an outraged Labor politician appalled by this Coalition rorting? Does she ever carry on like that with the top-heavy members of the Coalition on that ABC revue?)
Too many of them are taking up the space of someone else who could be doing the job that these navel gazers are paid to do but aren’t.
I was an avid The Drum watcher for several years. And I can remember a much younger Ellen Fanning standing in on RN Breakfast through the summer. I found her quite good. But, sadly, over the last couple or so years on The Drum, she has morphed into what seems to be a Sky Lite by not letting people finish, by talking over them while tending to twirl her pen and at the end of the interruption and her own spiel by finishing with “right?” I haven’t watched The Drum for quite some time now. I find Julia Baird a much more successful host.
Reminds me of old Nona Vendt. Whatever happed to her? Could never see the attraction.
ACA – where Fanning learned/honed all her conservative anti-left skills.
Couldn’t hang around waiting for Nona to slip up.
Silly me (late nite, medication ….) that was Gracey Trimshaw of course. Who knows, if something had happened to her we might never have heard of Feathers – she’d have taken over as the front of ACA.
Further (to last night’s shocker) was the label applied to Emerson : contrasting Carnell’s :-
While Emerson = “Ex Labor Minister”;
small business lobbyist Carnell = “Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman“?
YTF wouldn’t Emerson be labelled according to his present position or, conversely, Carnell her previous political slot as “Ex Liberal ACT Chief Minister”?
The Drum is more The Bucket/Spittoon?
Did you miss that episode where she was too busy texting to listen to what Keane had to say on one subject? Probably the last time he gave them his time – for good reason.
Now-a-daze – when it comes to political affiliations – you either have to be working for Rupert, the Fin Revue, or be a Coalition tout or a Coalition present or “ex-politician” to be granted a regular, on rotation, Drum beat slot/gig from which to spout your political allegiances.
…. re that “texting” – it was “Feathers” Fanning of course.
This is inevitable when the Coalition have constantly got the ABC on notice with the BS claim that they are all lefties when they deliver proper news or an expert’s opinion on a matter. Trumps America has only further inspired Murdoch, as they push this narrative further. Rudd and Turnbull are our last hope- and regulation of social media.
I to watched the drum daily now not at all. Whilst there are some guests representing alternative views by far the majority views of guests support liberal and other right wing extremists. This program has gone the way of many other abc political opinion productions – promoting views of Murdoch and the government with minimal input from dissenting voices.
Is this bias in the media or simply that journalists have become mouthpieces? When I read Morrison’s “dressing down” of Kelly, I couldn’t see anything in it that actually condemned or rebuked the position. Yet it’s headline news that it was a win for a Morrison?!
Morrison’s ‘dressing down’ of Kelly was just as impressive as his ‘condemnation’ of Trump for inciting an insurrection early last month. That got equally adoring and favourable coverage, entirely ignoring the actual words which were so vague and mealy-mouthed that it was uncertain what Morrison was so ‘disappointed’ about: was it Trump, or the rioters, or the insurrection’s failure to achieve its objective?
Could not one media outlet report Kelly’s alleged ‘dressing down’ as him being ‘carpeted’? I guess the press gallery reserves carpeting for foreign diplomats.
And ‘shirtfronted” for foreign heads of state …