This year, the coveted Arsehat of the Year was contested by a plethora of worthy candidates. Prime Minister Scott Morrison didn’t even qualify for a nomination, while Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton had to be retired for the same reason as Tony Abbott — compared to most arsehats, they’re bazookas at a knife fight. And yet, in the midst of all that, Crikey readers gave us the clearest winner in the history of our awards.
What it is about Angus Taylor? Obviously, by any measure, he has had an unusually scandal-plagued year. But it’s more than that.
Firstly, there’s that background: a wealthy, powerful farming family, a string of impeccable private schools — The King’s School Parramatta, St Andrews College.
Then there’s a stint at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and the work for the giant, secretive consulting firm McKinsey & Company — most recently in the news for assisting the US government’s grotesque immigration policies. Those bland good looks, like a dad in a catalogue.
Once he gets into politics — having won preselection for a safe Coalition seat — he uses his maiden speech in parliament to talk about the “war on Christmas”.
He becomes minister for energy, and barricades himself in a room away from the media after his first speech. The ditching of early political ally Malcolm Turnbull for Peter Dutton. The fact that, despite a year in the spotlight thanks to scandal after scandal after scandal, one can’t recall a single thing he’s actually said, not a single memorable turn of phrase. The arrogance and evasion he’s shown in response to each scandal.
It all totals up to an impression of someone who went into politics not out of any coherent idea of what the world ought to be, much less a desire to serve, but as a natural career progression — of ending up in government because people who go to the right schools and meet the right people often do.
Grassgate. Watergate. The forged documents deployed against a political opponent, which necessitated a police investigation. The man wrote “Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus.” on his own Facebook post, and shared a faked Top Gear segment for God’s sake. His attack on Clover Moore leaves essentially no interpretations, save idiocy or malfeasance.
On the publicly available evidence, Taylor’s true talent is making friends with the right people, people who usher you from one room to another, people who will back you even as you embarrass them, people who call the cops on your behalf when it gets serious.
It is appropriate that this man is now our energy minister. Indeed his last act of the year was to be instrumental in a compromised nothing-of-a-deal on emissions at the UN.
Beyond a certain hollowness, Taylor embodies the icy-brow realisation about why the world is in the state it is and why the public is so implacably disillusioned with the political class: so many people in power aren’t just nefarious or callous or self involved, but simply mediocre people who find it very difficult to get fired.
Blistering and much deserved slap down, Charlie. Well done. Made my smokey, chokey day in Sydney that little brighter.
Hear, hear…!!
I hope the arsehat enjoys reading this award multiple times – if only this rich summary was in the mainstream media.
The only thing I quibble with is his appearance: rather than ‘catalogue dad’ he still looks and acts like a private schoolboy.
I seriously think he has never really grown up…I mean, what can you say about someone who so obliviously seeks to worsen climate change? It’s as though he’s just carrying out some task that a master has instructed him to perform, unable to examine its true worth through lack of life experience..
I wonder if he’s in the same position as the infamous Greg Hunt who sold his soul for ministerial and political preferment. Hunt knew the scientific reality of climate change, I would hope Taylor the Rhodes scholar does too. If so he really is a pathetic creature.
Renewed attention on his maiden speech reveals he’s a gold toothed rat hiding behind convenient piety, young fogeyism and the usual neoliberal economic dogmas. I think he can count, and use a spread sheet, so could learn how the atmosphere works and how to break it, if you forced him.
He should be forced to learn.
They all should….but have exercised their options to ignore briefings from our earth systems knowledge centres.
Sociopaths make such perfect fascists.
It’s a “not doing anything illegal” addiction.
Being able to bend the Golden Rules is key.
“He who makes the rules gets the Gold”
What I would like to know is, how do you manage to find the difference between being shady, dodgy, shonky and down right illegal.
That seems currently to be Arsehat of the Year’s only talent.
“one can’t recall…a single memorable turn of phrase”
Fantastic. Great move. Well done, Angus.
“So many people in power aren’t just nefarious or callous or self involved, but simply mediocre people who find it very difficult to get fired.”
Beautifully put. And driving us to despair.
This line stood out as a highlight to me as well.
The absolute mediocrity constantly covered over or rewarded.
So many talented people in this country and so many weak willed, born to rule men in the LNP.
They need a larger gene pool.
“so many people in power aren’t just nefarious or callous or self involved, but simply mediocre people who find it very difficult to get fired. ” Lovely bit of writing here, Charlie.
The present members of the Liberal Party define the awful mediocrity of evil and its mundane embrace. They are blobs. Caught up by their own imagined magnificence they lack the energy/will to run the country properly. Leading them, of course, is the weak witted Scott Morrison. Doubtless our beloved leader will continue relying on prayers to right the nation’s problems. Evil combined with religion, the scariest of all combinations.
Not prayers Venice . . . Miracles!