Morrison lived by the media sword, now he will die by it

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The Morrison Government rape scandals continue unabated today. Yesterday’s confession and denial by Attorney-General Christian Porter has done nothing to quell the outrage. Indeed, it has swelled as righteous calls for an independent inquiry explode. At Crikey, the late accusing woman’s lawyer, Michael Bradley, demands it:

The criminal justice route is closed. There will never be a determination as to whether Porter is guilty of a crime, beyond reasonable doubt. In that context, the presumption of his innocence is permanently fixed.

However, this fact remains: he is the attorney-general, the first law officer of the Commonwealth, a cabinet minister, and member of the Executive Council which advises the Queen through her agent the governor-general. He has access to the highest level of classified information and participates in the decisions made by the most powerful ruling body in the country.

…He is also accused of committing a heinous crime. That, like it or not, hangs over his head, unresolved.

…He is a public servant, pure and simple. It is axiomatic that he must be beyond reproach and above suspicion.

In order to reach a position where the prime minister can be confident that his minister is able to continue to serve as first law officer and a member of his cabinet, he must institute an independent inquiry to examine and determine the allegation.

Similar calls were made by the legal profession with Barrister Lisa De Ferrari SC, Barrister and president of Australian Women Lawyers Leah Marrone, Greg Barns SC, Professor Simon Rice at the University of Sydney Law School, Victorian Bar senior counsel Fiona McLeod and NSW Council for Civil Liberties all calling for an independent inquiry.

Similar calls are made by Albo at The Australian, Sarah-Hanson Young at News, as well as David Speers at the ABC, Katherine Murphy at The Guardian and Rosalind Dixon at Domain. Peter Hartcher nails it again:

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By outing himself on Wednesday, Porter cleared his fellow ministers of suspicion. Morrison should have done the same for his government and his nation [with an inquiry].

Instead, Morrison has followed the course of least resistance. Go into hiding, then go into denial, then send the minister away on leave, and wait for the whole thing to blow over. This is the standard political play for a standard political scandal.

This is not a standard political scandal. This is not a movie we have seen before. It gave Morrison a chance to lead Australia towards higher standards in politics and towards greater respect for women.

Instead, he has delivered Australia a low-rent production that does everyone a disservice.

Then there are questions over the fitness of Porter’s temporary replacement, Michaela Cash:

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash — who refused to provide witness statements over the leaked Australian Workers Union raid and who just yesterday appointed former colleague Bruce Billson to a $360,000, five-year role as small business ombudsman despite his being censured for accepting money from a business lobby while MP — will be acting attorney-general and minister for industrial relations.

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As well as a devastating dressing down for PM Morrison from his Australian of the Year, via SBS:

“Jenny and I spoke last night and she said to me, you have to think about this as a father. What would you want to happen if it were our girls?” he told reporters at the time.

…Asked about Mr Morrison’s response, Ms Tame said: “It shouldn’t take having children to have a conscience.”

“And actually, on top of that, having children doesn’t guarantee a conscience,” she said.

As for listening to victims, how’s this little beauty from the mental-health retiree Linda Reynolds (now sharing a room with Christian Porter at Sunnyfields?):

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Embattled Defence Minister Linda Reynolds has not denied reports that she referred to alleged rape victim and former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins as a “lying cow”.

According to a story in The Australian newspaper, Senator Reynolds made the remarks in front of staff members after Ms Higgins went public about an alleged rape inside the ministerial wing of Parliament House in 2019.

There are also a bunch of Coalition hack journalists whinging about trial by media though why is not clear given that it is the only job of journalism to uncover the truth.

Not to mention that the Morrison Government has bought this entirely upon itself. From the outset, the only way to treat these allegations was with the utmost integrity. There are immense unanswered questions for all six allegations and the three accused Liberals. Not to mention the entire process of handling the events and complaints. Some of these questions are about process, some about law, some about justice.

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Instead, we have had a political pantomime of pseudo investigations by mates for mates, as well as ceaseless political ducking, weaving, dodging and drivel, forcing all alleged victims to press their cases via the media.

For a Government utterly obsessed by the media to the detriment of all else, you would have thought that it would understand the basic maxim that it is not the crime that kills you, it’s the cover up. The same applies even if there has been no crime.

For a Government that dedicates all of its energy to spin over substance. For a Government driven by fake inquiry over probity. For a Government run by a marketing executive. For a Government joined cheek-by-jowl to a media proprietor and his every outlet. For a Government chock-a-block with favours for mates, including across the media. The claim that it is persecuted by the media is absurdly hypocritical.

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It is clear that this scandal is life-threatening for the Morrison Government. Polling is on the slide:

And every move to duck, weave, deflect, avoid and divert confirms that the character of the Government and especially its head is unfit for office.

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The only way out is the one path that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Government have absolutely none of: basic human integrity and formal process.

Live by the media sword, die by the media sword.

About the author
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal. He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.