Episode description
Episode description
In this episode: will he stay, or will he go? The future of Scott Morrison in Parliament; the company a prime minister should keep; forget about the Coronation, the move to a republic needs to start now; and how soon before we see a new major political party in Australia?The former Prime Minister Scott Morrison is on the verge of leaving politics – or so we're told. We’re heard this story before, so it’s a never-ending speculation. Morrison has been linked to “a number” of defence corporations in Britain, keen to employ him in an AUKUS-related position, but there are no names attached to the sources, so the source of these reports could actually be Morrison himself. There are many people who would like Morrison to leave Parliament as soon as possible and never be heard of again but it also brings up the question of the working life of ministers after they leave Parliament, and whether it's in Australia's national interest.
The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attended the wedding of Kyle Sandilands and Tegan Kynaston and resulted in a few protests, mainly along partisan lines. Kyle Sandilands is one of the most offensive people on radio but being the prime minister is about trying to appeal to as many people as possible. Sandilands does have a massive audience – the ‘Kyle and Jackie O Show’ is the leading morning program in Sydney with almost 200,000 listeners every day, so being on good terms with a major media personality does have its political benefits for the Prime Minister even if it’s probably more to the benefit of Sandilands, rather than Albanese.
There doesn't seem to be too much interest in the UK Coronation event so far: the Prime Minister is already in London and has met the King, and he'll be attending the Coronation – it would have been more appropriate for the Governor–General to attend. Of course, a republican Prime Minister of Australia needs to be polite and say the right words, but the sooner the country gives a Scottish-styled response to the Royal Family and moves towards a republic, the better.
The idea of politics of the centre-right going through a reformation is starting to take hold, with more academic material being published about this concept. The last time this happened was with the formation of the Liberal Party in 1944 – it is far easier to work with what you've got, and it has to be remembered that there were suggestions after the Labor Party lost their fourth consecutive federal election in 2004, it should disband and reform in a totally different way – only for the party to go on and win the 2007 federal election. A political party can never be written off but if the creation of a new major political party is ever going to happen, this is the most favourable time.