Fairfax Media has hit back hard at Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton’s, claim yesterday that it was actively trying to “bring the government down” and was conducting “a bit of a jihad” against the Government.
Fairfax’s Mark Kenny has described Dutton’s whinge as “like a recurring wave of nausea” from a “faultering government” that is “lashing out, blaming others as the accounts of its own dysfunction pile up”:
Bereft of goodwill, a directionless Abbott government has fallen prey to the siege it has invited. Ministers grumble of a raw deal from Fairfax Media (this publisher) and the ABC. Actually, that understates it dramatically. No less than a “jihad” is being waged…
Touching all this off, Dutton effectively blamed Fairfax for reporting a story that any but the most sycophantic reporter would have run. It cited two cabinet ministers (one in corroboration of the other) who had revealed internal dissatisfaction with Treasurer Joe Hockey’s performance, discussion of his possible replacement, and an early election option in March, subject to the results of the forthcoming Canning byelection. The story was uncomfortable but factually correct in every detail.
Fairfax’s Matthew Knott has written a similar critique, arguing that it is a reminder of the Gillard Government’s dying days:
A government flailing in the polls, struggling to explain a policy agenda and beset by internal instability. A senior minister emerges from the wreckage to accuse the media of bias. I say “deja”, you say “vu”…
Suddenly, we were partying like it was the Gillard era. In 2011, as Labor failed to sell its politically toxic carbon tax, the then communications minister, Stephen Conroy, accused News Ltd of waging a campaign of “regime change” against the government…
Tony Abbott, the then opposition leader, advised the government to “take the rough with the smooth”.
“Fundamentally, if you want good coverage, you have got to perform well,” he said…
Dutton’s spray, no doubt, felt cathartic. But it’s likely to prove as useful as honking your car horn in a traffic jam. You feel good for a second. Then you realise you’re still stuck, going nowhere — just with more noise.
As Chris Becker correctly pointed out yesterday:
There would be less navel gazing and reporting on infighting if the Coalition actually had a plan for the nation and some decent policies… to see Australia through the uncertain times ahead…
There are many areas that need action – from tax reform, to retirement policy, and housing. How about less talk and more action?
In any event, the Coalition should heed Abbott’s advice from 2011 to “take the rough with the smooth”. It’s not like the Government has ever had to deal with this kind of media bias:
