Scott Morrison has been to Washington and back, and a State Dinner was held in his honour. While grandstanding and hurling insults at China might not be the best way to protect a $40 billion per year export market, there must be wiser heads within the government providing advice, and they certainly would know what they are doing. Wouldn’t they?
There was much talk about the entourage at the US State Dinner – it certainly didn’t comprise the “quiet Australians” that won the surprise victory at the 2019 election for the Liberals, but the captains of industry and some of the wealthiest people in Australia.
And who wasn’t there also caused problems for Scott Morrison – his mentor, Brian Houston, wasn’t permitted to attend the dinner by the US State Department. Still under investigation for failing to report child sexual abuse allegations against his father, this was something even this White House administration couldn’t tolerate. And under this administration, that’s really saying something.
And in surprise news, a QAnon adherent is appearing to be a close friend of the Prime Minister. Sure, Prime Ministers need to mix with a wide range of people so they can easily keep their finger on the pulse of the nation – but QAnon? It’s a radical conspiracy theory that believes in lizards ruling the world, pedophiles controlling the universities and media, and Donald Trump is apparently the one that will save the world.
Without a clear and obvious agenda, this government is rambling and there’s always external people willing to step in and assist – people such as QAnon adherents, the Institute of Public Affairs… and the mainstream media.
Australia has a new ambassador… but not of the kind that we know of. The government has enlisted the media celebrity, Scott Cam, for ambassadorial services to promote trades among the youth of today. Very meritorious, of course, but where is the support program for this? Where are the apprenticeships?
This Liberal Government has cut $3 billion from vocational education and national apprenticeships but, it’s OK.
Appointing a media celebrity is the best way to gloss over any problems.