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Is Scott Morrison really on our side?

Nothing sounds more hollow than a statement in need of some truth. As an opening salvo from a pretend new leader, it was an insult to our intelligence.

If the revolving door of leadership in the Liberal party has demonstrated anything, it is that their loyalty and dedication to serving the people has never been very high on their list of things to do. If it was ever there in the first place.

For our newest prime minister to feel the need to say that he is on our side, infers that he was concerned that we might think otherwise.
Why on earth would we think that our elected government was not on our side? Perhaps because it wasn’t? It isn’t?

If you woke up this morning thinking that you had just emerged from a nightmare of near inescapable despair, be assured you were not alone.

This excruciatingly, agonising charade of a mortally wounded government still has some life in it, albeit devoid of oxygen. The Hillsong happy-clapper’s, ‘I’m on your side’ gasp, was a plea for mercy; a mea culpa, an apology for his party’s appalling behaviour; an internal blood-letting vendetta that has made the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd episode look like a vicarage tea party.

What has Scott Morrison ever done that might lead us to think that he is on our side?

This hard-right conservative disguised as a moderate, who won the nation’s top job, not because he was the best candidate, but because he was less hated than the others, has presided over the most disproportionate allocation of public funding since Harold Holt was treasurer in the early 1960s.

Never have we seen a treasurer demonstrate such blatant disregard for public need in favour of corporate excess, as Morrison.
Our only positive hope is that his tenure will be short-lived. His time as prime minister will, more than likely, be shorter than that of Tony Abbott.

No doubt polling will take place over the weekend to gauge public reaction to what has been the most disgraceful week of Liberal party acrimony, in living memory.

But regardless, the next six months will just be more of the same, with the defeated continuing to plot, with more recriminations, more bloodletting, more destabilising activity.

The ‘I’m on your side’ mantra will soon fade from Morrison’s mind as he tries to hide the ongoing war inside his disintegrating party.

39 comments

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  1. Babyjewels

    As soon as I heard him say “We are on your side.” I turned off the telly.

  2. Kronomex

    No he’s not! It’s just the usual pretence of another LNP pollie on the make.

  3. Ross in Gippsland

    Dig up that stash of cash you have buried in the backyard, take out a mortgage or three, sell the kids, put it all on Labor to win the next election. You will never see such a sure thing again in your lifetime.

  4. pierre wilkinson

    remember the catch call ” this is not a legitimate government… they should take it to an election and let the people decide! ”
    well now I wonder what they will say…. no need for an election? What a farce!

  5. helvityni

    …yes, progress a la Liberals; the less hated as the PM, and the most hated on the front bench….

  6. Clive Manson

    Well, if it’s all about “us”, when will we see power prices come down, and penalty rates go up?

    If it’s all about us ScoMo, this is the test…..

  7. MöbiusEcko

    F#ck, honestly f#ck!

    Not 24 hours after Josh Frydenberg states that he is part of a New Generation of Liberals, he’s with Peter Costello seeking advice from him and Frydenberg says he will continue to refer to Costello as he was Australia’s greatest Treasurer.

    So what happened to the New Generation if all you are going to do is refer to a past architect to most of the economic and social shit we now find ourselves in? That’s not being part of a New Generation, but the raising of past Liberal generation that engaged in Zombie Economics.

    If Frydenberg thinks this move is a winner with the people he is sadly delusional and far more out of touch than I believed.

  8. Rhonda

    Hey Mobius, maybs Josh was talking to Costello and seeking his advice around how to cope and move forward after failed coup attempts on a party leader

  9. diane larsen

    this disgraceful rabble is on only one side their own their behavior over the last five years and especially this last week reminds one of thoughtless sulky toddlers with no concept of self control or idea how to behave or run a country. let us hope their remaining time in office is very short

  10. Rhonda

    Same here, Babyjewels! ScumMo is…oh, dog is nuthin & nobody of any good. And, Ross in G’land, I will pay your tip. But for me it will be an ideological windfall (less the refugee reasonable resolution factor), coz I got no cash, buried or otherwise

  11. helvityni

    MöbiusEcko, nothing NEW to see over there, just a bit of recycling…

    The New Generation is nothing but yet another catchphrase, I’m already sick of it…. it’s taken over Kill Bill…

  12. totaram

    Ross in Gippsland: I wouldn’t be so sure. Watch the MSM go into overdrive to convince the punters that this govt. has the policies that will deliver rivers of gold to all and sundry, while “kill Bill” messages will throw dirt on Labor and Bill Shorten. As you can see it did get Turnbull over the line in 2016, so why not now?

  13. nexus321

    Politically Australia is now well and truly scraping the bottom of barrel with this clown. The psychopaths psychopath.

  14. Wayne Turner

    Actions speaker louder than words. He’s full of crap.

    It’s the same crap self serving party,just with a different crap leader.

    He will just lie non-stop to keep his new job.

    Another LYING slogan they are using is: “We are united”.

    Sadly I agree with totaram – This government is only gone,when they are voted out,and sadly most of the electorate are gullible and easily manipulated.

  15. Barry Thompson.

    Frydenberg seeking advice from Costello is a poor reflection on Morrison as a Treasurer.
    The best Australian Treasurer’s were Keating and Swan as recognized by international experts. World best in fact.
    Neither of those Labor heroes would give Frydenberg the time of day.

  16. diannaart

    Far-right not into forgiveness (just ask Tony Abbott) – why don’t their heads explode when they mouth the Lord’s Prayer?

    With happy-clapper ScoMo at the helm, the Lord’s Prayer will continue to be a thing to do before parliament.

    One step forward, three steps back.

  17. John Kelly

    If Frydenberg thinks Costello was the best treasurer Australia has ever had, he’s off to a bad start

  18. Rossleigh

    From Twitter:
    Scott Morrison: “This is my leader and I’m ambitious for him” Latrr in week tells public: “We’re on your side”.! Be afraid. #libsspill #Auspol

  19. MöbiusEcko

    Rhonda at 11:25 am

    I’ll publish the search results link as I block all Limited News and Murdoch media on my PC. He said he will seek Costello’s guidance.

    https://www.google.com.au/search?as_q=Frydenberg+with+Costello&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=

    This is a massive step backwards, not a move forward. I’m with you John Kelly. If Frydenberg thinks Costello was Australia’s best Treasurer then he really has no idea and should not have been made Treasurer.

  20. Kaye Lee

    “Something of a bureaucratic black belt from his days in New Zealand, Morrison also fought running battles with Tourism Australia’s nine-strong board. Its members complained that he did not heed advice, withheld important research data about the controversial campaign, was aggressive and intimidating, and ran the government agency as if it were a one-man show. But Morrison thought he had the upper hand. Confident that John Howard would ultimately back him, Morrison reportedly boasted that if [tourism minister] Fran Bailey got in his way, he would bring her down. When board members called for him to go, however, Bailey agreed, and soon it was Morrison who was on his way. “Fran despised him,” says an industry insider. “Her one big win was ousting Scott. His ego went too far.” Another senior industry figure claims that it was Morrison’s arrogance, combined with his misreading of John Howard and the power dynamics of Canberra, that proved his undoing: “He was naive to think he could take on the politicians. Howard was always going to back his ministers.” The “agreed separation” was said to have pocketed him at least a $300,000 payout.”

    https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2012/february/1328593883/nick-bryant/so-who-bloody-hell-are-you

  21. Harry

    Under Costello’s Treasurership, not only did the suppression of real wages growth continue and the gap with productivity growth widen further, but he also oversaw a dramatic shift in the level of precariousness in household balance sheets, which exposed the nation to turmoil in 2008, when the GFC hit.

    He introduced a range of policies which also redistributed more real income to the top-end-of-town and undermined the conditions of the most disadvantaged.

    But importantly, the only way he was able to run successive fiscal surpluses was because household consumption growth was maintained by the growth in credit and household debt. Somewhat later in his tenure the commodity price boom was also of assistance, which of course, had nothing to do with his acumen (not!) as Treasurer.

    The reality is that fiscal deficits have been the norm over successive economic cycles. There is no evidence that Australian governments have ever been able to successfully ‘balanced budgets’ over the cycle without negative consequences following.

  22. Vikingduk

    Greenpeace have new petition calling for election now.

    To sign

    https://act.gp/our-say

  23. MöbiusEcko

    Yes Harry, and to highlight the point Costello was never able to get anywhere near to predicting his surpluses, always underestimating them by a considerable margin, and he ran one deficit during the commodities boom, which took everyone by surprise, including Costello and Howard.

    I can no longer find it, but not long after the start of Howard’s second term, there was a graph published that showed the sharp increase in household debt under Costello, to which Howard made his famous aspirational speech saying this was a good thing with households being easily able to afford their spiralling debt.

    Against Costello’s advice, Howard kept pushing this line into his last term and election campaign. Costello warned him of the looming danger of spiralling household debt. Costello to his credit could see what was coming, especially when the public was clearly experiencing the disconnect between what Howard was saying about aspirational wealth and the erosion of their living standards and personal wealth.

    Howard was a failure on every front, barely implementing a successful policy in 11 years of office whilst he caused long-term damage to Australia which has flowed through to today.

  24. Avid Reader

    When the Libs lose the next election will they demand a recount?
    Is there a list of the members who voted for Dutton?

  25. Anna Karmio

    I agree totally that it is nothing new from this prime minister, same pretence and snobbiness thinking, that we even care are they on our side or not, because all the trust is gone long time ago. They have done that damage already soon as they did the Abbott coup, so its not just all the recent things. The list is so long and we know how ruthless and ignorant they are. I have never voted them and never will and hope that no one else is not voting for them neither! I wish them all the bad in coming months and when election is called we can pay back all the lying and cheating!!

  26. Ill fares the land

    Scomo has a background in management and presumably he there learned some of the lexicon of the weasels who infest managerial positions. I am almost nauseous at the thought of the number of company or organisational policy statements (or what is even worse – the MISSION STATEMENT) I have read, wherein scumbag managers invariably used language like – “we are on a journey together” and “we respect all of our staff and value their commitment to the ideals of the organisation blah blah blah”. In one such organisation (a church organisation I might add where thankfully I was only a contractor, the silver-tongued CEO used such words in a new Mission Statement, but then waited until one staffer went on long service leave before he sacked them. You can be reasonably sure that someone using such words has no commitment to the substance of the words – it’s up there with “trust me” and “yes, I’ll love you in the morning”, so believe the words at your peril.

    An indication of how much we can trust him is to be found in the fact that Scomo is a devout Christian – so he says – but was still able to reconcile his Christian beliefs with the inhumane treatment of refugees incarcerated on Nauru (like Rudd – who was one of nastiest people ever to take office and Abbott, although Abbott is a Jesuit, so he thinks of himself as a Christian warrior, despite the fact that apart from his academic achievements, he been decidedly in the B or C division in everything else he has ever attempted). In fact, in forty years plus in business, some of the sickest, most malicious, devious and just plain evil people I have encountered have been devout Christians – self-proclaimed of course. Scomo has form – he has shown that he can think one thing and say another and believe he is speaking the truth! On top of that – he has shown himself to be a total lightweight as a Minister, so it seems unlikely he will rise to what is required of the PM role.

  27. corvus boreus

    Scott Morrison is the news that you have infected hemorrhoids rather than rectal cancer.

  28. king1394

    Frydenberg will be in trouble if he relies on Costello’s advice. Costello produced surpluses by selling off a lot of Australian assets. There’s not much left to sell now Josh.

  29. johno

    Josh is getting tips from pete, wonder if slowmo will ask jonni howard for some tips on building white picket fences.

  30. Judith

    I see 3 white male Christians (pm, deputy & treasurer) and I think ‘he’s not talking to me!’

  31. Harry

    Hopefully Morrison’s elevation to PM will mark the “last fart of the ferret” in this country. Surely the jig is up, the lie that the Coalition works for “all Australians” BS. Its becoming ever harder to sustain as reality.

    We have been in a post-truth world for several decades. The only difference now is that the lies and “fake news” are working against the establishment whereas up until now they have worked in favour of the establishment. For example, the mainstream explanation of how government finances work is a lie that has worked well for the privileged few.

    Some of these more common lies include: government spending is constrained by the need to balance the budget; reducing government spending will lead to growth; reducing wages and conditions will increase employment; privatising government owned monopolies will lead to better service at lower costs; welfare payments are disincentives to work; and unemployment is caused by the lack of effort by the unemployed.

    What makes these lies worse is that the mainstream press has not been complaining about these lies. But now the new lies are working against the establishment. The truth is the mainstream Neoliberal voodoo ideology is simply a myth to support greater inequality and injustice.

  32. Adrianne Haddow

    It seems to me, we have been hoodwinked.
    The Xtians are taking over. I leave the Christ out of the word, because if he did exist and his stories are true, he wouldn’t recognise any of these far right wing politicians as having anything to do with his teachings. None of them seem to have any empathy or compassion, nor concern for the electorate they pretend to represent. Their self-serving behaviour and disruption of government of the past week was appalling, and their lack of integrity was glaringly obvious.

    For all their ant-union rhetoric, what they did on Thursday was a stop-work union meeting, although they call it suspension of Parliament

    Kaye Lee wrote an interesting article on Dominionism, a few months back (can’t remember the title).
    The premise being that the happy clappys, anti-science brigade, creationists, and other myth believers are working to infiltrate governments worldwide. And in this Lib meltdown, it appears to be occurring here, at least the first steps.

    I have no problem with what other people believe (unlike these guys in government) as long as their belief does not impinge on or discriminate against the beliefs of others, or that the general populace has to finance it.
    The climate extremes the planet is experiencing need to be urgently addressed, and this bunch of anti-science numb nuts and corrupt opportunists cannot be trusted to deal with the problems we must urgently address.

    As Vikingduk 1.09 pm urges, defend our democracy, call for an election.

  33. Florence Howarth

    If a man with only a degree in geography can be treasurer, it can’t be too hard.

  34. Keith

    “Is Scott Morrison really on our side?”
    The answer is a resounding NO.
    .Refugees
    .Spruiking coal
    .Tax cuts
    .Same sex marriage
    .Past voting patterns

  35. vicki

    Ha the Liberal Party sold off ALL OUR ASSETS and then Claim WE are the BLUDGERS, the hide of these Parasites they call US Bludgers, while sucking the life out of US, I am over paying for their Lifestyle while they never increase wages,dole and pensions only their OWN and sending OUR JOBS overseas along with selling OUR ASSETS to overseas CORPS, how can WE FUND Ourselves when they SELL what WE OWN? They SOLD off what We owned and did anyone get a SHARE into what they already owned? I didn’t get my shares in regards to telecom, CBA,Medicare,Qantas..Just to name the main FEW!

  36. Russell Pink

    It’s great to see that the bulk of truth-loving and smart (not gulled by Murdoch journalism or shock-jock ranters) in this forlorn Italy of the Pacific, are damned angry with what has occurred. The entire adult population should be out in the streets demanding the current gang in the Federal Parliament Circus be sacked like a corrupt local council. The vast amount of sheer bald-faced ego-tripping, rorting, deceit before the voters, trash-talk and ugly Ayn Rand-driven policy decisions of the incumbent Semi-Fascist Party make me vomit. Harry’s comments are on the mark; and indeed, very ill fares this land! The trouble is now, a career as politician is left mainly to self-seeking vain loudmouths of which Muttonbrain is the acme, and bizarre psychopath/sociopaths like…well, we know the beast leading the loony right clothed in religious belief. It makes many thinking people want to leave the place to its certain demise under the rich, smug neanderthals who showed their true colours last week. And I wager the best brains of Australia are already gone, for good reason. It’s too depressing to bear. No wonder we have one of the world’s highest youth suicide rates – and appalling poverty that is never addressed fully by any party in Canberra. Keating’s banana republic is here and now.

  37. Avid Reader

    I am not sure that short of a revolution we can claw back any control over our self indulgent politicians. We have allowed them too much freedom to make the rules that hold us down and lift themselves above the fray. As much as I support the ALP, I am not blind to the greed of some of its members. Having been paid very well and pensioned handsomely, they still indulge in negative gearing, trusts and using tax havens. Men like John Hatton and Ted Mack are very rare these days and I don’t think there is one parliamentarian in the whole country who has their kind of honesty and integrity. Therefore I think that unless the next government can illustrate by deeds, not words that they are willing to suffer financially as we have had to, to get Australia back on its feet, we are going to throw them out in a couple of years time. If a truly altruistic party arose it would destroy both Liberal and LNP, but I think it might take a revolution first.

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