Scott Morrison is kidding himself if he thinks the South Australian election was decided only on state issues, that his standing had no bearing on the vote, and that what happened last weekend can’t be replicated federally.
The Morrison factor was definitely there, and it was big enough to unsettle even more Liberals about their prospects with him at the helm. The result has increased the muttering about regime change.
There was a “Morrison factor” in the South Australian election result.Credit:Rhett Wyman
“He is definitely on the nose here,” one South Australian Liberal said, adding Morrison was a drag on their ticket. Sure Steven Marshall was up against an articulate, charismatic young leader who ran a clever campaign. It still doesn’t explain the extent of the swings in Liberal seats, an omen perhaps for inner urban federal Liberals under threat from independents or Labor.
It’s no good Morrison saying Anthony Albanese is no Mark McGowan and no Peter Malinauskas . Nor is he.
The Prime Minister needed clear air before and after that morale-destroying result to set the scene for the federal budget, which remains the government’s last hope to recover ground. Instead, the focus has been the sordid campaign following the untimely death of Kimberley Kitching .
With so many other issues demanding his attention, including sorting the cost-of-living package in the budget, flood reparations, additional help for Ukraine, uncompleted Liberal NSW preselections, not to mention the bullying accusations levelled against him, Morrison should have kept his distance.
Instead of focussing on the federal budget, the Prime Minister got caught up in the messy campaign which followed the death of Kimberley Kitching.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Instead, sensing opportunity, he dived in to turn up the heat on Albanese. Albo’s enemies and the media were already doing the job for him.
When Kitching’s close ally and friend Bill Shorten was interviewed the morning after she died, the pain, the grief, the guilt he felt at her sudden death at 52 was obvious and understandable. The shock was deeply unsettling for him, for his family and her family as well.
After that, sadness morphed darkly into anger, revenge and murky power plays for control of the bedevilled Victorian branch. Days have been filled with accusations of bullying and the impact of the stress on her of her unresolved Senate preselection, with insinuations they contributed to her demise.
Albanese did not help himself by initially responding inadequately. He did better on Wednesday, but often he gets defensive or snappy when he faces hostile questioning, something which Liberal campaigners are hoping will surface during the campaign.
He should have insisted that the Victorian Senate preselections be sorted last year. He needed a better response to the turmoil while standing resolutely by Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher, who have flatly denied bullying Kitching.
As well as being smart and ambitious, Kitching was a tough player who revelled in political intrigue, making enemies as easily as she made friends. She loved the nickname “Mata Hari” bestowed on her by a Labor MP, a mate, who admired her for not toeing the line, who also warned her to be careful she did not cross that line.
He reckons she never complained to him about her treatment, except that she wanted to be restored to Labor’s Senate tactics committee, from which she had been dismissed. “She was tough, she didn’t want people holding her hand,” he said. “She didn’t ask anyone to feel sorry for her.”
Sadness over Kitching’s sudden death morphed into anger and power plays for control of Victorian Labor.Credit:Dionne Gain
Kitching lost the trust of many on her own side. She was suspected of leaking and undermining colleagues, not only by briefing media – so far Chris Uhlmann and Andrew Bolt have publicly revealed Kitching told them she was concerned Wong would be weak on China – but Coalition MPs, former Liberal Party officials and even senior staff in the Prime Minister’s office.
Politicians leak. And they do have friends across the aisle. But the breadth and depth of hers fed the distrust. The crunch came in June last year when then defence minister Linda Reynolds said in Senate estimates she had been forewarned by a Labor senator she would face questioning over the alleged rape of former staffer Brittany Higgins.
In private meetings later, to prove she was not making it up, Reynolds went so far as to produce for Wong, Gallagher and Keneally, video footage from the Senate chamber showing Kitching approaching her months before in early February before prayers. Reynolds told them this was when Kitching first told her the tactics committee had discussed it and planned to weaponise the alleged rape.
Reynolds also showed them subsequent text messages she had received from Kitching effectively confirming their initial conversation.
The matter had not been discussed in tactics, something Reynolds later accepted, so Kitching’s leak was actually not true. This was a sackable offence in anyone’s language. Kitching was dropped from tactics. Fearing ongoing leaks to their opponents or media, it was no wonder they restricted her access and contact with her.
NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds has warned about the scheme’s sustainability.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
There is a deep well of support inside Labor for Wong, Keneally and Gallagher. As deep as the anger now raging against those who triggered the civil war which threatens to overwhelm them. They warn if it continues and damages Labor’s election prospects, Shorten and his allies will be blamed. They accuse them of using Kitching’s death to cut down deputy leader Richard Marles and preserve Shorten’s powerbroker status. That would make it three elections in a row Shorten has lost for Labor.
In his eulogy for Kitching, Shorten appealed to everyone to work for a Labor victory. His furious colleagues wait to see if he means it.
The final words on this belong to Liberal backbencher Russell Broadbent, first elected to Parliament in 1990, who lost in 1993, was re-elected in 1996, defeated again in 1998, then came back in 2004.
He knows how brutal politics can be, particularly for those like himself who go against the leader or the party line on issues, in his case, on refugees. Broadbent knew and liked Kitching, but has been dismayed such odious insinuations and allegations have flowed from her death.
“Politics breaks people’s hearts. It doesn’t stop their hearts from beating,” he said.
Questions remain for Albanese and Labor despite his insistence that there was no complaint from Kitching about bullying, however, there is still something unseemly about a prime minister facing so many critical issues getting embroiled in a brutal fight ignited by the death of an opposition politician, particularly as one of his cabinet ministers was a central figure in Kitching’s dismissal from the tactics committee.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in Politics
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article