A failure of leadership
I have to say I’ve been stunned with how badly Scott Morrison has handled the Australian bushfires. It has been such a poor show of leadership, he may not recover from it.
First let’s deal with two facts which are both true but also irrelevent
- Emergency Disaster responses are the responsibility of the state government, not the federal government
- There is nothing Australia by itself could have done in terms of greenhouse gas emissions that would have made the fires less likely
But what citizens want is to think their head of government understands the huge pain they are going through, is there with them, and fighting for them. Morrison’s decision to continue for a while with his Hawaii holiday was badly judged, let alone his statements there is nothing he could do.
What he should have done is some or all of the following:
- Fly home the moment it was obvious these fires were beyond the normal for summer
- Announce the Federal Government stands ready to support the states in everything they are doing
- Announce say $50 million initially in extra funding for emergency relief. Doesn’t even matter what for – it’s showing you’re not being stingy
- Set up an emergency co-ordination group of the top federal and state officials and have twice daily conference calls to show you’re focused on the fires, not the cricket
- Get to the front line asap. Don’t shake hands unless people offer. Just spend a couple of hours making coffee and tea and snacks for those on the front line
- Address the nation and reiterate that Australians are good cobbers who support each other. Announce you will match donations to the Red Cross $1 for $1 and you challenge Australia to raise $200 million for the victims
I suspect the next polls will be brutal for the Government, and for Morrison.