The remarkable ups and downs of Morrison narcissism

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The personality disordered PM can’t restore order because his only way to operate is to divide when what he needs is genuine leadership to unify. This is Morrison’s personality disorder writ large for the government. His absent empathy gene is a classic symptom of toxic narcissism or similar. As such, every crisis leads to another:

  • When challenged by bushfires incinerating his fellow Australians he retires to a Hawaiian hammock.
  • When challenged by sexual assaults transpiring under his nose, he hides behind his family like they are human shields.
  • When challenged by China, diplomacy gives way to a jingoistic motormouth (thank god).
  • When challenged by a failing vaccine rollout, he blames states, doctors, regulators, the media, anybody he can, even though he is directly and exclusively to blame for having sent Pfizer packing mid-last year after buying the cheapest vaccine from his old Liberal Party mates at Astra Zeneca.
  • When challenged to national interest utilise policy process, he reverts to favours from and to mates.

The pattern is always the same. It is never PM Morrison’s responsibility. The winners in any issue are those he and his party favour, not an objective policy process. The losers are gaslighted to within an inch of their very lives.

Even the Murdoch Press now acknowledges the peculiar nature of the Morrison pathology. At News:

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison refuted claims he was an “absent leader” as backlash against the Australian leader grew overnight from all corners of the globe.

Across social media, television and radio, the PM faced more criticism for his “chronic inability” to take responsibility for the Federal Government’s failures in handling the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Labor MP Tony Burke on Sky News overnight.

The PM started yesterday with a scathing interview from KIIS 1011 Melbourne hosts Jase & PJ, demanding an apology for his handling of the pandemic and for “the mistakes made”.

“We’ve had problems and we’ve dealt with them, that’s what I do every single day,” Mr Morrison said.

The Independent newspaper in the UK then became the latest overseas publication to focus on the PM’s failures with an article titled, “Morrison under fire over fresh Australia Covid lockdown and poor jab rollout”.

Meanwhile, a picture of Sydney led a story on the front page of The New York Times with the headline: “How nations are learning to ‘let it go’ and live with Covid”. In the article, it said: “Places like Australia, which shut down its border, are learning that they cannot keep the virus out.”

Try as it might, a disordered personality of this magnitude can’t unify. It literally lives to divide and to denude those it deems unworthy of their reality. The problem is there is no escaping the reality of a pandemic, with 13m Australians locked down and a double-dip recession underway.

But, it’s not all bad news. Morrison’s peculiar madness has also played a key role in accelerating Australia’s structural divorce from China. The Morrison motormouth so discombobulated the CCP that it was flushed from cover in the 14 conditions to end democracy. One of the most extraordinary geopolitical errors pertaining to Australia in its history.

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As a direct result, the China divorce is moving much more swiftly than otherwise. The 14 conditions document was presented to the caucus of free nations at the G7 where it has unsettled leaders greatly.

We are now seeing more and more support from allies like Japan:

Japan’s ambassador in Canberra has firmly backed the Federal Government’s approach to China, saying he “applauds” the way Australia has resisted economic pressure from Beijing.

Shingo Yamagami also rejected suggestions that Japan has managed ties with the emerging superpower more skilfully than Australia, saying his government was “struggling every day” to manage its relationship with China.

Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra, Mr Yamagami said the relationship between Japan and Australia had undergone an “astonishing” transformation and the two countries now shared close strategic ties.

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And the US:

The United States is “closely monitoring” trade tensions between Australia and China and will support officials in Canberra in addressing China’s state-led, non-market practises, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai has told her Australian counterpart.

USTR said in a statement following Tai’s meeting with Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan that the two ministers agreed to continue working to develop a digital trade policy that addresses the needs of workers and recognises “the importance of collaboration among those with open, free, democratic systems”.

Remarkable upsides and down from Australia’s greatly disordered PM.

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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.