Prime Ministers should be leaders.
I've already given my reasons for thinking politicians are stupid. Well here's a bit about the complete lack of leadership displayed by our Prime Minister.
Scott Morrison, our Prime Minister, has recently seen fit to go on holiday. I have no issue with him going on holiday with his family. Working Australians are entitled to a number of annual leave days per year and the Prime Minister is no different.
The problem, as I see it, with Scott Morrison (ScoMo), is that he compounded his absence.
When it comes to climate change he is offering no leadership whatsoever. On the subject of climate change he's gone missing. We've just seen the reports that have come from the 25th Conference of the Parties in Madrid (CoP 25). Effectively Australia's position is that we need to do absolutely nothing to meet our already inadequate targets. We can meet these targets by means of dodgy accounting. Not real action. In all of this ScoMo has shown not a jot of leadership and is content to just roll along. Leadershop ScoMo, get with the programme.
The economy. When expert after expert says that economy is tanking and the Reserve Bank is urging government to do something to facilitate growth our government does nothing apart from saying that there will be a surplus. ScoMo has again gone missing. We've just had the economic review released and now they have said that the projected surplus will be a lot less than originally predicted. Meanwhile the Reserve Bank is left with little else to say apart from "we told you so". Leadership ScoMo, get with the programme.
The current fire emergency. While large swathes of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, West Australia and South Australia are burning ScoMo seems to be doing his level best to avoid the issue. He's gone missing. He even went so far as to offer "thoughts and prayers" to the people who have lost everything and the fire-fighters who are mostly volunteers. These brave people are, in a lot of cases, taking time off work to fight for their communities and will worry about their employment status later. It's now very nearly Christmas and this has been going on since August. A lot of them will lose their jobs because of the time they took off work. As one of them pointed out "thoughts and prayers don't pay the fucking rent mate". ScoMo said that he doesn't hold a fire hose or rake the burning undergrowth and nobody expects him to. For crying out loud, he even refuses to meet with a bunch of past and present emergency managers, fire brigade leaders and others to work out what needs to be done. Instead he is again, showing no leadership. Get with the programme ScoMo.
So what does ScoMo need to do apart from dissapear to Hawaii with his family.
For a start he could acknowledge that we have an issue with climate change that is having real effects right now. He should be looking at what action the government could take to reduce the effect that Australia is having. He should be consulting far and wide and forming policies that will help Australia reduce emissions. He should be publicising his, and his government's thoughts and actions. HE should be explaining what policies have been formulated and why. He should have the confidence to put these policies to the court of public opinion.
He could acknowledge that the economists are experts in their fields and he should be listening. Again, he should be looking to formulate policies to get things on the up and up again. He should be telling the general public that the country's economic performance is not good enough and that he is taking steps to listen to the experts and making policy to turn it around.
As far as the fires are concerned, leadership would have him just say "the best thing I can do now is to stay out of the way and let the experts get on with the job". He should just listen to what the fire fighters and emergency managers are asking for and then facilitate that. No need for a big fanfare. Just do it.
So, he's been absent on climate change. He's been absent on the economy. He's been absent of the current emergency situation.
And just to make sure that we really know that he's absent he disappears while doing his best to make sure that the public doesn't know where he's going. He's left the country in the care of the Deputy Prime Minister - the leader of the National Party. This bloke is a log - he even went so far as to say that while he was acting PM Wagga Wagga was the capitol of Australia. He is a climate change denier and has no idea about the economy. He wants the irrigators to have more water out of an already destroyed Murray Darling Basin.
Why didn't ScoMo just say "I and the family, are off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks leave. While we are away I'll be being briefed multiple times per day on what's happening and what the federal government needs to do". There, that's it, image problem solved. He's basically saying that "I booked this holiday some time ago and I'm going but while I'm gone I'll still be Prime Minister and I'll be right up to date with what the government needs to do and I'll be making sure it happens."
Leadership is lacking ScoMo. Get with the programme.