Individuals come together to form a team and it is how they come together that dictates success or otherwise. What is best; a team of champions or a champion team? I would take the latter anytime.

When I began researching the individuals that make up the Morrison team it became apparent that there were some good people within the Coalition. Equally apparent was the fact that they held little power within the parliamentary party.

In this piece I am more interested in the character of the individuals that form the team and how they fit into the group as a whole. So with a little help from our friends at Wikipedia, let’s take a look at this incompetent and controversial mob of dunderheads. We’ll start with Scott Morrison and work our way through:

Prime Minister, Scott Morrison in 2007 following the retirement of Bruce Baird lost a pre-selection ballot 82 votes to 8 to Michael Towke, a telecommunications engineer and the candidate of the Liberals’ right faction.

However, allegations surfaced that Towke had engaged in branch stacking and had embellished his resume.

The state executive of the Liberal Party dis-endorsed Towke and held a new pre-selection ballot, which Morrison won. The allegations against Towke were subsequently proved to be false.

Read into that what you may but it would hardly pass the pub test.

Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack:

In 1993, McCormack published a controversial editorial in which he blamed homosexuality for AIDS and criticised pride parades. He wrote that “a week never goes by anymore that homosexuals and their sordid behaviour don’t become further entrenched in society. Unfortunately gays are here and, if the disease their unnatural acts helped spread doesn’t wipe out humanity, they’re here to stay”. He asked “how can these people call for rights when they’re responsible for the greatest medical dilemma known to man – Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome?” His article was the subject of three complaints to the Australian Press Council.

In other editorials, he called for the return of caning in high schools, saying “there is nothing wrong, in my opinion, with students being given a ‘stinging reminder’ about how to conduct themselves”.He also compared women’s soccer to an “egg and spoon race”, and advocated for the death penalty.

David Littleproud, Minister for water Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management:

In December 2017, Littleproud was one of only four members of the House of Representatives to vote against the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 legalising same-sex marriage in Australia.

Josh Frydenberg, Treasurer.

Alan Tudge, Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure.

Greg Hunt, Minister for Health:

In June 2017 Tudge, and Liberal Party colleagues Greg Hunt and Michael Sukkar, faced the possibility of being prosecuted for contempt of court after they made public statements criticising the sentencing decisions of two senior judges while the government was awaiting their ruling on a related appeal. They avoided prosecution by, eventually, making an unconditional apology to the Victorian Court of Appeal.

Susan Ley, Minister for the Environment:

An examination of Ley’s expenditure claims and travel entitlements in January 2017 revealed she had purchased an apartment on the Gold Coast for $795,000 whilst on official business in Queensland. Ley defended the purchase, saying her work in the Gold Coast was legitimate, that all travel had been within the rules for entitlements, and that the purchase of the apartment “was not planned nor anticipated (a claim which was widely derided).

Ley released a statement acknowledging that the purchase had changed the context of her travel, and undertaking to repay the government for the cost of the trip in question as well as three others.

Kevin Andrews:

As Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [in the Howard government], Andrews attracted controversy after he revoked on character grounds the visa of Dr Muhamed Haneef, who had been granted bail on charges of aiding terrorists.

It was a grubby move by Andrews to make something out of nothing. He was guilty of nothing and we lost a good Doctor. He is also known for his pro everything Christian and anti everything else attitude.

Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs:

The AMA named him worst ever Health Minister [when in the Howard government] then he followed that up with a long list of controversies from Manus, Nauru, South African farmers, same-sex marriage, African gangs and many others the reader would be familiar with. No point wasting my precious words.

Nicolla Flint:

Some of Flint’s columns [she was a former journalist] expressed her support for recreational and commercial fishing and hunting. She wrote that Australian cricketer Glenn McGrath should not have apologised for taking and sharing trophy photographs with animals he killed while on safari in Africa.

She expressed support for the commercial hunting of Saltwater crocodiles in the Northern Territory and described the McGrath controversy as an “opportunity to encourage a debate about the economic, ecological and environmental benefits hunting can bring.”

In her maiden speech in the Commonwealth Parliament in 2016, Flint spoke of the “modern day scourge of environmental and animal activism.”

Ian Goodenough:

In 2018 he supported Peter Dutton calls to treat white South African farmers, who are sometimes targets of attacks, as refugees.

Goodenough is not a supporter of environmental conservation efforts: voting against a carbon price, increasing marine conservation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), and efforts to support the Great Barrier Reef.

He does not believe in restricting gambling and restricting foreign ownership in Australia, and his voting record indicates that he voted strongly for the right of civil celebrants to refuse to marry same-sex couples.

In 2019, claims emerged that Goodenough had “[taken] a group of overseas visitors to local businesses while being the director of a company that is paid for striking export deals”. Goodenough denied the conflict of interest claims and blamed them on “tall poppy syndrome.”

Alex Hawke:

Hawke said he strongly supported new rules to allow religious schools to expel students who are gay, bisexual or transgender, warning that people of faith were under attack in Australia: “I don’t think it’s controversial in Australia that people expect religious schools to teach the practice of their faith and their religion. We’re mostly talking about the primary system and very very young people who are below the age of consent. So this is a manufactured issue that the left is raising to try and circumvent religious freedom.”

Andrew Hastie:

Son of a preacher with a career in the military and takes his born again beliefs seriously.

Luke Howarth:

In October 2018, Luke Howarth’s mother, Denise, was granted access to Howarth’s electorate officer’s computer and e-mail address. The access was then used to send propaganda to at least one constituent to push an anti-abortion flyer. The communications sent from the electorate office falsely claimed that there will be no independent counseling before terminations and that staff would be obligated to “act against their conscience”

Steve Irons:

Irons charged taxpayers for wife’s travel for Queensland golf tournament.

In 2016, Irons charged his wedding flight to the taxpayers in 2011. Subsequently paying the charge back.

Andrew Laming:

In 2007, Laming and fellow Queensland Liberal MPs, Gary Hardgrave and Ross Vasta, were investigated and subsequently cleared of breaches relating to parliamentary entitlements.

This included A$67,000 for printing campaign material and Laming’s five-day employment of a staff member who worked in the office of Hardgrave.

There was speculation in the media and the Queensland Parliament that funds had been diverted to the Liberals’ 2006 state election campaign. On 2 March 2007, the Australian Federal Police conducted a search on the three MPs’ electoral offices as well as those of a printing company and a graphic artist. Laming described the incident as a “routine visit”.

Christian Porter:

In 2016, Centrelink, operating under Porter’s senior oversight as Social Services Minister, became involved in a debt recovery controversy. Despite heightened media interest and complaints, after meeting with the Department of Human Services, Porter stated that the program was working “incredibly well”. The program was later subject to a Senate committee inquiry.

Melissa Price:

Price caused controversy in her role as Environment Minister by allegedly telling Anote Tong, the former president of Kiribati and climate change advocate, “I know why you’re here. It is for the cash. For the Pacific it’s always about the cash. I have my chequebook here. How much do you want?”

Stuart Robert:

On 18 August 2014, Robert attended an event in Beijing, China, at which a mining deal between Australian company Nimrod Resources and Chinese state-controlled corporation China Minmetals was signed.

In February 2016, when details of the trip were released, the Opposition called Robert’s presence at the signing “inappropriate”, because Nimrod chairman Paul Marks was a friend of his, as well as being a substantial donor to the Liberal Party.

Robert claimed that the trip was in a “private capacity”, and not official government business.

In a subsequent Senate Estimates Committee hearing, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) stated that the department had not been informed of the trip until Robert had returned, and that it appeared that Chinese officials at the event were under the impression that Robert was present as an Australian government minister.

[Then] Prime Minister Turnbull asked his department secretary, Martin Parkinson, to investigate and report on the circumstances of Robert’s visit to China, to determine if he had breached ministerial standards of conduct.

On 12 February 2016, Robert announced his resignation from the First Turnbull Ministry as part of a broader reshuffle triggered by the resignation of Andrew Robb and Warren Truss.

Crime and Corruption Commission – Operation Belcarra.

In March 2017, it was revealed that Robert would appear at a public hearing of the Queensland Crime and Corruption Commission named Operation Belcarra #opbelcarra, inquiring into the possibly illegal conduct of candidates in some local government elections. It was alleged that some candidates had formed an undeclared group, and provided an electoral funding and financial disclosure return that was false or misleading.

In 2017, it was revealed that Stuart Robert had direct financial links with a company, the GMT Group, which was awarded millions of dollars worth of government contracts. This may have meant that he was in breach of the eligibility requirements of Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia Stuart Robert’s parents were listed as the directors of his company for six years without their knowledge.^[19] The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is investigating these claims.

Internet usage controversy

In October 2018, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that he had asked the Special Minister of State, Alex Hawke, to investigate Mr Robert’s internet bills. Mr Robert’s internet usage is funded by taxpayers and concerns were raised about apparently excessive bills.

Michael Sukkar:

In his maiden speech, Sukkar categorised himself as an “economic liberal” and with “strong conservative foundations”. He credited his Catholic faith as being one of the two most significant influences in his life, as well as his family.

In 2013 he expressed support for the school chaplaincy program at an Australian Christian Lobby forum.

Sukkar opposes same-sex marriage. He stated that he would abide by the outcome of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey and believes all politicians should be held to it. Despite this, after his electorate voted 66% in favour of same sex marriage, Sukkar abstained from the vote, saying that he could not support the bill.

[Then] Prime Minister Turnbull at the time gave Mr Sukkar responsibility for addressing housing affordability. When asked about housing affordability on 20 February 2017, Sukkar told Sky News that “we’re also enabling young people to get highly paid jobs which is the first step to buying a house”. Labor MP Tim Watts said in response that the remarks showed the Coalition was “back to where Joe Hockey started on housing affordability.”

Angus Taylor:

On renewable energy, Taylor was a speaker at the “Wind Power Fraud Rally”organised by the anonymous anti-wind blog StopTheseThings.com and hosted by Alan Jones on 18 June 2013 in Canberra.

Taylor has called on the Coalition government to reduce its support for wind farms and is concerned with Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) based on a belief that renewable energy projects, in particular wind, are increasing electricity costs and a belief that there are cheaper carbon reduction methods.

I am not a climate sceptic. For 25 years, I have been concerned about how rising carbon dioxide emissions might have an impact on our climate.

Speaking about the Renewable Energy Target in June 2014, Taylor said “religious belief is based on faith not facts. The new climate religion, recruiting disciples every day, has little basis on fact and everything to do with blind faith.”

Taylor was also a major donor to the Liberal Party, significantly exceeding amounts donated to the party by other members.

Bert Van Manen:

He was endorsed by the evangelical Christian Dunamis Church, which provided church volunteers to aid his election campaign with “booth work, letterbox drops and many other things.”

In January 2018 it was reported that several changes to Mr Van Manen’s Wikipedia page that included deleting references to his failed business, Vangrove Financial Planning, were traced to parliamentary IP addresses. A spokesperson for Mr Van Manen described the edits as having been “well-meaning.”

Lucy Wicks:

Although she had been raised on the Central Coast, she was heavily criticised for allegedly being “parachuted” into Parliament.

Wicks narrowly won re-election in the 2016 federal election from Labor candidate Anne Charlton.

Wicks opposes same-sex marriage.

Tim Wilson:

Wilson was employed by the Institute of Public Affairs for seven years, serving as Director of Climate Change Policy and the Intellectual Property and Free Trade.During this time, he argued against plain cigarette packaging, and to vote against the proposed local government referendum in Australia. He was a vocal critic of the Human Rights Commission and during his time at the IPA, the Institute called for the abolition of the Commission.

Wilson served as Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner between February 2014 and February 2016. On appointment to the Human Rights Commission, Wilson resigned his membership of the Liberal Party. During the term of his appointment he argued for changes to Section 18C of the 1975 Racial Discrimination Act, calling the prosecution of broadcaster Andrew Bolt for vilification of indigenous Australians an infringement on Bolt’s right to freedom of speech.

He was subsequently elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 election.Wilson currently serves on the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport, Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources and the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.

Jason Wood:

Wood gained notoriety in 2008 when he mispronounced a series of words during a speech to the federal parliament on the risks associated with genetically modified organisms, culminating in him twice saying “orgasms” when he meant to say “organisms”.

Trent Zimmerman:

Zimmerman’s appointment was controversial, with now-suspended party member Juris Laucis describing the process as “undemocratic” and “a stitch-up”^[and reform activist and former Liberal party member John Ruddick called for Liberal voters feeling disenfranchised to send a message to the party by giving Zimmerman their last preference.

Political journalist Peter Hartcher attributed his preselection to his being an ally of Michael Photios, “the power behind the NSW machine”.Whilst a candidate for preselection, Zimmerman was also the head of the body that sets the rules for party elections, a position his opponents described as a “complete conflict of interest.

Zimmerman is one of eight openly LGBTI current members of the Parliament of Australia and the first openly LGBTI member of the House of Representatives. Zimmerman has indicated he will speak out on LGBTI issues and declared his support for Gay marriage in Australia.

Keith Pitt:

Pitt was one of only four members of the House of Representatives to oppose the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017; that was enacted to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia

Michelle Landry:

In April 2016, Landry drew national attention when she attempted to communicate her belief that the Federal Government’s messages were not being communicated effectively enough, and said that the public was perceiving the government’s communication as being “a little wishy washy”.

* * * * *

I find it impossible to imagine that the Australian people could be so gullible as to elect for a third term a government that has performed so miserably in the first two and has amongst its members some of the most devious, suspicious and corrupt men and women, but they did.

The aforementioned people exist to make their living as members of the Australian House of Representatives. One would expect to find in such an august chamber only people of the highest calibre and integrity but instead we find a bunch of highly educated self-interested members of the House of Representatives who the Prime Minister thinks are worthy of being in his team.

Character is a combination of traits that etch the outlines of a life, governing moral choices and infusing personal and professional conduct.

It’s an elusive thing, easily cloaked or submerged by the theatrics of politics. But unexpected moments can sometimes reveal the fibres from which it is woven.

… Continued Saturday

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