More bad news for the “Psycho“:
Voters are underwhelmed by the Morrison government’s response to recent catastrophic flooding in New South Wales and Queensland, and a majority fear disasters will be worse in the absence of significant action to address climate risks, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
The survey of 1,091 voters finds only 26% of respondents characterised the Coalition’s recent flood disaster response as good, while 40% thought poor and 34% said neither good nor poor.
The new data points to community disappointment but the public backlash after the flood disaster is less visceral than after the catastrophic summer bushfires of 2019-20. Back then, in January 2020, 57% of Guardian Essential respondents disapproved of Morrison’s response while 32% approved.
As the sleaze piles up around the “Psycho” Morrison’s spiritual guide:
It’s hard to know what is the most startling information to emerge from the extraordinary revelations made at last Friday’s all-staff Hillsong meeting, called to address mounting rumours around the behaviour of Pastor Brian Houston, as reported here by Crikey, drawing on a leaked audio recording.
Is it the disclosure that the church needed an “integrity unit” — so-called by senior pastor Phil Dooley — to check on the behaviour of its most prominent pastor? The National Rugby League has one… but a church?
Is it that the six-member “integrity unit” was composed almost entirely of men, most of whom are long-serving Hillsong figures with history with the Houston family stretching back decades? The unit, of course, was checking on claims brought by a woman about what happened over a 40-minute period in her hotel room after Houston knocked on her door, apparently confused by a combination of drink and prescription drugs.
Is it the inference that Brian Houston has only ever committed two transgressions with women, once in 2013 and once in 2019? The meeting held last Friday heard that a woman was aggrieved enough to complain and resign over text messages in 2013, and that the woman from the 2019 incident was similarly aggrieved and also took her complaint to management. So to believe that Hillsong has now come clean, we have to believe that Brian Houston’s only transgressions happened to be with women who had the courage and determination to go ahead with a complaint.
Is it that Hillsong thought it could float the idea that it was the sleeping tablets (in 2013) and the anxiety medication (in 2019) that played a role in Houston acting the way he did — and that he wasn’t really responsible?
Is it that Hillsong will solve serious claims of impropriety and push problems under the rug by paying some money to a complainant — and not much of it? The female staff member who resigned in 2013 was given two months’ salary to go and get on with her life. In the early 2000s Hillsong paid the princely sum of $12,000 to the victim of Frank Houston’s sexual abuse — a deal done in a McDonald’s restaurant.
Is it that Hillsong thought it was a sign of Brian Houston’s personal integrity that he paid money to the two women out of his own pocket rather than out of Hillsong funds?
Is it that Hillsong appears to have an ingrained culture of concealing and minimising serious allegations of sexual abuse and/or predatory sexual behaviour from the top?
That sounds awfully familiar re parliament!
As the NSW Liberal Party revolt continues:
It’s not often the prime minister gets taken to the NSW supreme court, especially by a member of his own party.
But such is the vehemence of some NSW Liberal party members’ views towards the party’s internal preselection processes, that it has come to this.
The challenge is the second legal action launched in recent weeks against the Liberal hierarchy by little-known 43-year-old businessman Matthew Camenzuli.
Having already won a previous supreme court challenge last month – allowing the NSW executive to remain in place amid factional infighting – Camenzuli has now set his sights on an even bigger target.
If he wins, the political future of two federal ministers plus a long-term federal MP will be in doubt.
As it stands, the federal budget is less than a fortnight away, with the federal election campaign likely to start a few days later. Yet the Liberal party in NSW is without candidates in at least four winnable seats. This challenge could see another three thrown into disarray.
Camenzuli’s suit names a suite of senior Liberals, including the prime minister, Scott Morrison; the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet; and the former federal president of the party, Chris McDiven, over actions taken in March.
The NSW branch is desperate to distance itself from the “Psycho“;
Senior Liberals have sent out an SOS to Gladys Berejiklian, calling on the former premier to help save key seats in NSW in the upcoming federal election.
Local campaign teams in electorates at risk of falling to progressive independents are also pleading for Prime Minister Scott Morrison to stay away, with Liberals labelling the PM “toxic” to the government’s chances.
Liberals say internal party polling shows Ms Berejiklian is more popular than she was even at the height of her time as Premier. That’s despite the former Premier being the subject of an Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation which is yet to report findings.
Ms Berejiklian is set to be approached directly by former party allies asking her to lend her weight to help candidates like Dave Sharma in Wentworth, Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, and whoever the party ultimately selects to run in Warringah.
Call the election, “Psycho”. The people are ready.
