The press gallery was in full retardation mode over the weekend in fretting over ScoMo’s Jerusalem bind. Via Paul Kelly:
The fiasco over the Jerusalem embassy now looms as a diabolical dilemma for Scott Morrison risking a lose-lose outcome. This is a deepening embarrassment for Australia, a threat to the Prime Minister’s standing, an unnecessary problem for the new trade partnership with Indonesia and a failure in terms of foreign policy priorities.
This issue should never have arisen. There is no national interest for Australia in the prospect of moving the embassy in Israel. The blame lies entirely with Australian ineptitude. There is wide recognition in the government that raising this as a review during the Wentworth by-election has been a monumental blunder.
Morrison should have sorted the issue before the present summit season in Asia. The stakes have escalated alarmingly because he has no good options left. The essence of the dilemma Morrison faces is a conflict between his authority as Prime Minister and Australia’s national interest.
…The ugly Islamic prejudice towards Israel — as called out yesterday by Liberal deputy leader Josh Frydenberg — adds more political fuel to the mix. In his powerful comments, Frydenberg said neither Indonesia nor Malaysia has diplomatic relations with Israel, in effect asking why Australia should be influenced by those nations in deciding our attitude to the embassy and Jerusalem.
This is a storm in a tea cup. The notion that Indonesia is setting our foreign policy is pure rhetorical fabrication. The Israel lobby is the second most powerful in Canberra behind the US and ahead of even China. If Indonesia even has a lobby it’s right up there with Nauru for undue influence. If any foreign power is at work here it is the Jewish state.
There is no bind here. Simply muzzle Frydenberg and punt any embassy move into the long grass past the next election in May 2019.
So why isn’t it happening? Everyone knows the embassy move was for Wentworth votes. Does Morrison want other motivations to creep into the national consciousness? Maybe he does.
After all, he’s a Pentacostal Christian. I have a family connection to folks of this faith and know them well. They’re not your regular quiet Christian achievers. The outer edge of the movement in revival centres is a cult. It comes complete with speaking in tongues, intensive personal annihilation, reconstruction rituals and deliberate isolation. Those that recognise the brainwashing and depart are called “backsliders” (good name for a cocktail I always thought) and are excommunicated, showing no compunction over divided and destroyed families.
In short, they’re nuts. Scott Morrison surely doesn’t want us to see him that way. But he may be quite happy for us to see him as some kind of Christian crusader, defending Western traditions against the barbarous hoard.
Let’s not forget that last week Melbourne also saw a jihadi attack and Morrison laid the blame squarely on Islam and the Muslim community. Responsibility should be shared but Morrison went further than all previous PMs. This will jeopardise authorities best source of intelligence to prevent such attacks in the first place: the Muslim community. Does Morrison care?
The Morrison Government is in a state of utter chaos. It stands for nothing beyond the inertia of the deep state. That headless chook could result in a government that resorts to instinct. In Morrison’s case that has been fashioned by a value system that regular folks would find completely bizarre. Making matters more dangerous, his conservative wing is chock full of equally fervent Catholics. If he lets this Christianity skeleton out of the closet then his polls will fall even further. But he’s a cunning enough pollie to know a good wedge when he sees one and letting a little of his inner extremist show might be just the ticket.
