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Tag: Liberal party
Scott Morrison’s China gambit is a Hail Mary from a flailing leader trying to galvanise fear | Peter Lewis
Scott Morrison’s efforts to politicise Australia’s complex relationship with China seems to be further soiling his own flagging reputation. Like a bull in the proverbial, he has spent the past fortnight bombarding the airwaves with hastily googled dossiers and cold war-era panics to suggest an Albanese government would become an antipodean branch office of the Beijing Politburo. Large sections of the national gallery have embraced his China pivot, breathlessly reporting the attacks on Labor, amplifying intelligence community blowback and catastrophising operational incidents that would normally demand sober assessment rather than…
‘Wild and ruthless’: Katharine Murphy on surprise rebellion and familiar tactics
Katharine Murphy discusses with Jane Lee the drama of the federal parliament’s first sitting fortnight – from the failed Religious Discrimination Bill to attacks on Labor on national security – as both major parties count down the days till the election is called. How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian
Morrison and Dutton are imperilling Australia’s national security to hang on to power | Katharine Murphy
Too often, political journalism is the art of asking the wrong question. We can preoccupy ourselves wondering whether or not a particular tactic will work. These are valid enough deductions, but the whole exercise can read like theatre criticism. At the moment, there is only one question to ask, and it’s this. Is it right for Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton to weaponise national security in the run-up to an election they evidently fear they could lose? If you ask the correct question, the answer is simple and clear. The…
Scott Morrison calls Labor MP a ‘Manchurian candidate’ in extraordinary scenes in parliament – video
Australian prime minister Scott Morrison branded deputy Labor leader Richard Marles a ‘Manchurian candidate’ amid extraordinary scenes in question time on Wednesday. Morrison then withdrew the slur, which infers that a politician is being used as a puppet by an enemy power. Morrison also cited a speech by Marles in Beijing in 2019 calling for Australia and China to strengthen ties. Australia’s domestic spy chief, Mike Burgess, told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday night that the weaponisation of national security is ‘not helpful to us’. It is the second forthright public…