Last week we heard A LOT from our Prime Minister on allegations of bullying inside the Labor Party.
We heard him label opposition leader Anthony Albanese “gutless” for declining an inquiry into the treatment of late Senator, Kimberley Kitching and suggesting he was “hiding” from the truth.
He described the situation as “distressing”, nobly adding, “I don’t think they [allegations of bullying] can just be dismissed”.
Well, I hope the Prime Minister’s ethics stretch now to himself.
Because last night, one of his own Senators, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells slammed him as not only “a bully” but an “autocrat” with “no moral compass”.
Recently relegated to an unwinnable spot on the Liberal party’s NSW Senate ticket, Fierravanti-Wells told the Upper House that Morrison was “not fit to be prime minister” and said he had “destroyed the Liberal party” through recent interventions in NSW branch preselections. She also took aim at his “portrayal as a man of faith”, suggesting he’d used this as “a marketing advantage” but his actions were conflicting.
Perhaps most sinisterly, Fierravanti-Wells accused the PM of racially targeting a Liberal colleague to cement his own preselection in the Sydney seat of Cook in 2006.
She said that as an aspiring politician, Morrison had pulled together a dossier against Michael Towke, a Lebanese Australian engineer, to destroy his reputation.
“I am advised that there are several statutory declarations to attest to racial comments made by Morrison at the time that we can’t have a Lebanese person in Cook,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells told parliament.
Morrison dismissed the claims on Sydney radio station 2GB today: “That’s rubbish”, he said.
Probed further about the Senator’s decimation of his character on ABC News Breakfast, Morrison noted that when people are “disappointed” they become susceptible to acting out.
“I know Connie is disappointed, having lost the preselection of some 500 members on the weekend,” he said.
“Six years ago I strongly supported her and ensured that she was able to be re-selected. She was very happy at that time.
“But now, after being unsuccessful on the weekend, I understand that she’s disappointed — and I join a long list of those that she’s said these things about at times like this.”
But of course we know that Fierravanti-Wells is not an anomaly. Her accusations against the Prime Minister echo countless other comments made by his coalition colleagues in recent times.
Indeed, only a last month we learnt of a text exchange between former New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and a member of federal cabinet, in which the pair described the national leader as “a horrible, horrible man”, “a complete psycho” and “a fraud”.
Again, last month, leaked texts between Deputy Leader Barnaby Joyce and a former Liberal staffer surfaced, with Joyce branding the PM as “a hypocrite and a liar”.
“I have never trusted him, and I dislike how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie”, he said.
Morrison’s response? As glib as his quick dismissal of Fierravanti-Wells this morning.
“What people send around in text messages I frankly could not care less about,” he said.
But doesn’t he get the fact that these accusations point to something far more egregious than irrational disgruntlement? Doesn’t he worry, even for a second, that such character assessments might actually hint at the truth?
As a voter (and a human) who cares about my place in the world and the way I’m perceived by those around me, I grow increasingly uneasy that our leader can so easily dismiss such severe and offensive statements made about him.
These are accusations made by those closest to him; those who have to spend long days (and probably nights) in his presence. These are people who hold considerable loyalty to the party they all represent, and know how damaging their claims may be. The fact they still feel compelled to share them, is telling.
I grow increasingly uneasy that our Prime Minister doesn’t see value in holding a mirror to his face.
Empathy is important. Feeling frustrated, fraught or hurt when you learn you’ve upset or angered someone close to you, is a normal human response. The fact our Prime Minister shows no sign of any of these key emotions is something we should all think deeply about.
And hopefully we get the chance to get to the bottom of it all, when Morrison calls an inquiry into his own dubious conduct.