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Politics

‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’

The luck and swagger of Scott Morrison
by •
June 2021, no. 432

How Good Is Scott Morrison? by Wayne Errington and Peter van Onselen

Hachette, $34.99 pb, 329 pp

Politics

‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’

The luck and swagger of Scott Morrison
by •
June 2021, no. 432
Prime Minister Scott Morrison in meeting in Canberra on September 2020 (Nareshkumar Shaganti/Alamy)
Prime Minister Scott Morrison in meeting in Canberra on September 2020 (Nareshkumar Shaganti/Alamy)

Flash back to that election night in May 2019, when Australians, depending on their party affiliation, were either overjoyed or appalled at the Coalition’s return despite the opinion polls. That evening, Scott Morrison – a man little known to Australians until assuming the prime ministership just nine months before after an ugly leadership coup – summed up Coalition sentiment and his own Christian faith: ‘I have always believed in miracles,’ Morrison said, before asking, rhetorically, ‘How good is Australia?’

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Paul D. Williams

Paul D. Williams is a Senior Lecturer in politics and journalism at Griffith University’s School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences. He is a weekly columnist with Brisbane’s Courier Mail newspaper and a frequent media commentator on Queensland politics. He has published widely on voter behaviour and political leadership.

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Comment (1)

  • The temptation to only concern yourself with the politics of the moment is invariably fatal for Australian leaders. John Howard was adept at managing both the politics and engaging with the policy issues of his time. Scott Morrison's intellectual shortcomings are behind his repeated stumbles. For all their whimsy, the swinging voter in this country is not sympathetic to a stand-for-nothing leader.
    Posted by Patrick Hockey
    18 June 2021

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