More of the same from new right-wing Australian prime minister

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The turmoil was triggered by the former immigration minister, Peter Dutton, on the far right of the [misnamed!] Liberal Party, who challenged Malcolm Turnbull for the prime ministership and leader of the party.

GetUp notes that though Dutton didn’t win the prime ministership, “there's no doubt the new Morrison Government is owned lock, stock and barrel by the hard right.” The activist group, which claims more than a million members – more than the memberships of all other parties combined – gets plenty of coverage in the mainstream media.  

“Peter Dutton and his hard right faction are more dominant than ever,” GetUp! argues. “Dutton has been at the centre of events all week. He and the hard right faction just brought down a Prime Minister who didn't do enough to appease them.

“While he didn't become Prime Minister, his power has grown to the point he may as well be. And that means that no matter who is Prime Minister, this government is now dead-set on a platform of division, climate-wrecking and sky-rocketing inequality.

“So with an election possible at any time, we need to go after the hard right with everything we've got. GetUp members have led the charge against the hard right to date. Together, we've already cut the margin in Dutton's electorate to a razor thin 1.9% – and have a very real chance of defeating him in the next election.”

An election may happen very suddenly. Turnbull has said he will resign his seat in parliament soon. That would cause a by-election for his seat. If the Liberals were to lose that seat, the government would lose its majority of one seat in parliament. It’s just heavily lost four other electorates in by-elections.

“But with the hard right now claiming the ultimate win against a Prime Minister, we need to go harder than ever before, day in day out, from today until election day – whenever it is. And to make this work possible, we need as many GetUp members as possible to commit to a regular donation, so we have a solid base of ongoing funding to power this campaign.” If you feel like helping out, click here.

Police have released CCTV footage of four people who used bricks and hammers to smash six windows and two doors at Peter Dutton's electorate office in Brisbane's north overnight.

The Australian Conservation Foundation, a volunteer environment activism group wrote: “The climate wrecking decade must end. “The Liberal Party is destroying itself because a few politicians cannot bring themselves to act to protect people and nature from climate damage. They have repeatedly wrecked efforts to cut pollution – and now want Australia to abandon the global Paris Agreement.

 “The new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, was the man who laughed as he tossed a lump of coal in Parliament (pictured). The dirty prop was supplied by industry lobby group, the Minerals Council of Australia.”

The Australian Conservation Foundation noted that in drought-hit Australia 1,600 winter bushfires raged across Queensland and NSW last week, leaving experts “gobsmacked”.

“Our strategy is to talk to Australians who live in places where votes are close, and turn community concern about climate damage into a commitment to vote on the issue. Together, our actions will make the difference,” the Foundation wrote.

They will launch their election campaign in Alice Springs, South Melbourne, Forest Hill, Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Gold Coast. They’re planning to doorknock in St Kilda, Burwood, Wynnum, Mount Gravatt, Windsor, Box Hill, St Kilda East.

Bill Shorten, leader of the Labor Opposition commented: “Today the architect of giving the big banks a $17 billion tax handout is set to become Prime Minister.

“This is the same Scott Morrison who:

•          Locked in massive cuts to hospitals;

•          Will keep fighting to give $17 billion to the big banks;

•          Cut $17 billion from schools;

•          Cut penalty rates;

•          Raised the pension age to 70;

•          Cut the Aged Pension; and

•          Voted 26 times against the banking royal commission.

“If this is Scott Morrison’s record as Treasurer, imagine the damage he can do as Prime Minister.

“At a time when health costs are higher than ever, emergency departments are under more pressure and people are stuck on surgery waiting lists, the last thing we need is more of the same from Turnbull’s right-hand man.

“At the end of the day, our country doesn’t need a change of Liberal leader. It needs a change of Government.”

Shorten's Labor Party currently leads the opinion polls on how Australians would vote right now. Labor has topped the polls consistently since soon after Turnbull became prime minister.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation posted a selection of comment by ordinary Australians on its website about the Canberra circus:

Ben J: "For the benefit of all Australians, and for the benefit of democracy, call an election, Morrison."

Thomas R: "The Australian public needs to have their say. No doubt everyone is confused with what is going on, and they deserve to have their voices heard and their decisions honoured."

Jack T: "Call an election. You no longer have the people's mandate."

Joshua W: "The public has lost confidence in a party that is split on even who it wants to lead. We need a change in government."

Corey P: "The Liberal Party has cast their votes now let us cast ours."

Alana C: "Call an election and let's be done with the bullshit. Australians really don't care about your squabbles, we want you to do your damn job. You know, the one we work our asses off to pay you to do?"

Travis N: "Call a general election NOW and don't make any binding decisions or policies. Let the people have their say, not just Parliament closed-door meetings."

Henry S: "They're all idiots and they should call an election so we can get a government that functions into power ASAP."

Nicole F says she hopes Morrison puts the best interests of the nation first:

"Put aside all this nonsense of turf wars, dramatic leadership takeovers and opposition for opposition's sake."

Ceridwen B wants Morrison to stay put: "No more leadership spills. Be strong and make us proud to be Australian. Make us world leaders in science and innovation, climate and sustainability."

Luke S, a 17-year-old high school student, wants him to get on with running the country: "All I see is political kerfuffle. I'm utterly disgusted in the amount of prime ministers that have come and gone over the past seven years."

And Rachel R says she just wants our leaders to do the job they're getting generously paid for: "If the Liberal Party needs to split into separate new parties or become a party that fully supports the agenda together, please do this expediently.”

And there's not much appetite for a repeat of the past week either … or the past 10 years, for that matter.

Anthony G called the state of Australian politics embarrassing: "The revolving door of prime ministers needs to come to an end and legislation to allow a prime minister to finish his term."

Andrew P hasn't been impressed either: "Trying to explain to my seven-year-old why our nation's leaders behave worse than children has been an exercise in despair."

Donna C called today the saddest for Australian politics: "The Liberals have just lost my vote. The demeaning of the office of PM has to stop. If your own party cannot respect the office, then how do you expect the Australian people to respect it?

Lisa P said "congratulations", but went on to say..."The first and most important thing you should do is legislate so that this farcical waste of taxpayers' money and time can never occur again."

Erica R said it hadn't just been a bad week: "I'm sick and tired of the flip-flopping between leaders and parties over the last 10+ years."

And Jet M called Australian politics since the departure of John Howard disgusting: "You should all be ashamed. From Kevin Rudd to ScottMorrison and all the leaders in between … just plain disgusting … SHAME."

But Morrison also has his fans and well-wishers.

Stuart M said he was pleased with the unexpected result: "In the interest of stability, I think  Morrison should call an early election. However, as with most leaders of any party, he is likely to continue so he can try and build up the reputation of the Liberal Party so that it can withstand an election."

Eleanor W offered: "The best of luck to Morrison, hopefully he can unite the party. Well done and congratulations. Don't call an election yet — let the dust settle to shore up your policies and establish your place."

Frank D says the direction of the Australian economy spoke for itself: “Congratulations, Morrison, I thought you were doing a great job as treasurer and I regret that none of the 43 unknown politicians that followed  Dutton had the foresight to disregard the selfish motivated action."

And Jennifer M said she was very pleased with the choice of leader: "If he delivers, I could vote Liberal, which I haven't done since John Howard. He appears to be a decent man."

But not everyone likes his record.

Gemma L said he's too conservative for mainstream Australia: "Morrison is not fit for the job in the way that he is too conservative to match what the majority of Australia believes in."

Terri T pointed to his record on refugees: "This is the man who put more children into detention and refused access to them by the media. He shut down medical staff from talking about conditions of refugees. And now he's in charge of the country?

And Ashley B called him a "different face for the same policies": "If he had any guts he'd call an election today to get a mandate from the people. His policies are what made the Turnbull government unpopular."

And the Australians he'll be representing have a long policy wish list.

James C wants the National Broadband Network fixed: "It's an absolute disgrace. Your predecessor is solely responsible for how terrible it is. Show the country what leadership is and rein in this nation-building exercise that has us as the laughing stock of every tech industry in the world."

Margaret G had a long list of her own: "Concentrate on relieving cost-of-living pressures, particularly electricity! Concentrate on providing low rental for low-income and homeless people!"

Samantha L said the National Disability Insurance Scheme needed more funding for mental health: "Listen to Mental Health Australia and others about what's needed. Listen to your heart."

Tony S wants Morrison to cut foreign aid and focus on looking after Australians: "I work in the heat, dust, flies just to feed my family. You, the leader of the Australian family, need to make sure we are looked after. Because that is the job you have."