Extract from ABC News
Analysis
By Insiders host David Speers
Scott Morrison likes to present as a man with a plan. Whether it's dealing with asylum seekers, climate change or a pandemic, the Prime Minister typically has a strategy or a roadmap, quite often printed in a glossy brochure, to demonstrate he can tackle even the trickiest of problems.
The plans don't always work, mind you, but the point of them is to inspire confidence that Morrison has at least chosen a course, knows what he's doing and is getting on with it.
The great mystery of the past month is why the Prime Minister, for all his political strengths, has no plan to deal with a crisis gripping the nation's attention and eroding support for the government.
If Monday's historic March 4 Justice showed anything, it's that women are fed up. They want change. It's about more than dusting off and finally implementing recommendations from a report the government received 12 months ago, it's about taking the issues of sexual harassment and abuse far more seriously. It's about listening to women and leading cultural change.
In responding to this tidal wave of anger, the Prime Minister appears to have lost his footing. Indeed, the morning after the march, Morrison was reflecting on a march of his own, eight years ago, when he really did fall off course.
A revealing moment
Back in 2013, Morrison and Labor frontbencher Jason Clare completed the gruelling Black Cat Trek in the wilds of northern Papua New Guinea. In a laudable initiative, the pair took young people from very different cultural backgrounds on "mateship treks" every two years, covering the Kokoda Track, Sandakan and the Black Cat.
In Tuesday's Coalition party room meeting, the Prime Minister told his MPs of the time he slipped from the Black Cat track and had to be helped by a guide. He likened the narrow path through the mountains to the one the Coalition now treads.
His message, like with most party room pep talks, was about the importance of sticking together and supporting each other. It was also about calming nerves with a reminder that he's led the Coalition through tough times before.
But the fact Morrison's mind was on the time he slipped and needed help was revealing.
Back when they walked the Black Cat, Morrison and Clare were joined by a Nine Network TV crew. "With this one you get lots of surprises," Morrison said during a brief pause in the climb, "land slips, tracks that don't exist any more".
It's an apt metaphor for the unfamiliar terrain the Prime Minister now finds himself in. The political tracks he's relied on for years don't seem to be working on this issue.
Where once a reference to "Jenny and the kids" worked a treat, it came across terribly when invoked by Morrison to explain how he came to appreciate the seriousness of the Brittany Higgins rape allegation.
Where usually a reflection on our "robust democracy" works as a standard political response to unhappy protesters, it hit a jarring note when Morrison pointed out the furious women marching at least weren't "being met with bullets", as they could be elsewhere.
A string of other problems
It's true Labor has its own internal problems when it comes to complaints of harassment and abuse, but complaints about opposition hypocrisy and unfair media treatment aren't putting this to bed either. The usual political tracks don't seem to exist here.
The Prime Minister is being implored to show leadership, not engage in spreading blame.
Monday's March 4 Justice gave Anthony Albanese the opening to deliver a fired-up speech to Parliament — his best performance as Opposition Leader. Monday's Newspoll also showed the Coalition slipping behind Labor for the first time since the pandemic began.
The fear for Coalition MPs is that they're being punished not just by women angry about gender inequality. This isn't the only problem confronting the government.
Last week's latest COVID recovery effort offering cheap flights to selected holiday destinations met a less than enthusiastic response. Indeed, it angered National Party MPs whose electorates missed out.
Meanwhile, concerns are growing about the end of JobKeeper in 10 days, which Treasurer Josh Frydenberg warns will involve a "rough couple of months" for the unemployment rate.
Then there's the vaccine rollout. After a string of early problems, no one wants to see any further delays, except perhaps Nationals Senator Matt Canavan and former Liberal Craig Kelly. The government is rightly taking the COVID crisis in Papua New Guinea very seriously, but it's a reminder this pandemic is far from over.
The government may yet recover from all of these problems. The Prime Minister might find his footing amid the land slips and disappearing tracks. The past few weeks, however, have shown there's no certainty about the path ahead.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iView.
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