What do you do if your government has consistently revealed an absence of leadership through a pandemic and personally you are exposed as a liar? And you are seeking another term in office. Morrison’s playbook for re-election is the old divide and conquer strategy. Suddenly, we see Scott Morrison in hi vis garb on our screens visually associating himself with those who actually do hard work for a living. The PM is quick to point the finger at the state governments for their authoritarian stance. It was all their fault he tells the electorate, giving them someone else to blame. The states were forced to take responsibility for quarantine and aged care, despite these being federal responsibilities, because someone had to do it.
Is the Role of the Federal Government Given Too Much Credence?
The federal government has consistently shirked its responsibilities on these life and death matters during the pandemic. What we saw was the fact that the Commonwealth did far less than we all thought. In some ways they are a figurehead for Australia performing symbolic duties rather than delivering real government. When they did stuff, like the vaccination roll out, they botched that for the first 12 months and people died unnecessarily. Now, Morrison wants to lay the blame on the states for the tough decisions that had to be made due to our slow vaccine program. Short memory my fellow!
Dutton Beating the Drums of War with China
Meanwhile, as another distraction, ‘the Skull’ Peter Dutton is beating the drums of war with China. The island nation with next to no submarines for the next two decades is displaying threatening behaviour in the Indo-Pacific region. The coalition is desperately trying to appeal to the far-right side of Australia. Those who want to beat up on someone to vent their frustrations and insecurities. Dutton is banking on the US coming to the aid of Taiwan and Australia riding on the coat tails of big brother. It is pertinent to remember that the US has not actually won a war since WW2.
Morrison’s playbook for re-election includes reigniting the divide between religious people and institutions which want to be able to discriminate against individuals on the basis of their sexuality and beliefs. Christian groups, like white men, are dismayed at their high table status being questioned and want the right to hire and fire on the basis of discriminatory beliefs forged hundreds of years ago. The LNP are the party of the past, determined to keep Australia locked into an identity no longer supported by its population’s cultural make-up.
The world has changed and the Covid global pandemic has accelerated those shifts. The global warming crisis continues to engulf us, and our federal government plays a political game of denial and do nothing.