Extract from ABC News
Analysis
Prime ministers all say things they live to regret. It's how they clean up the mess that inevitably follows that can be telling.
Three weeks ago, Scott Morrison admitted he was "wrong" and wished to "apologise" to News Corp. The swift statement of "deep regret" came within hours of the Prime Minister wrongly claiming the media company was dealing with a harassment complaint relating to an incident in a women's toilet. It was a speedy apology delivered publicly as well as privately to News Corp representatives.
Yesterday, Morrison refused to apologise to Christine Holgate, the former Australia Post boss who says she was bullied, harassed and hounded out of the job, in part because of her gender, and in part by the Prime Minister.
He did offer what is sometimes called the "politicians' apology": a statement of regret for "any distress caused". This explicitly involves no admission of wrongdoing or guilt.
Morrison would only concede his language was "very strong" when he thundered in Parliament that he was "appalled" over the "disgraceful" purchase of four Cartier watches for Australia Post employees and that Holgate must either "stand aside" or "go". He does not accept he over-reacted and shot his mouth off to shut down a political problem, just as he did in the News Corp example.
Provoking 'angry Morrison'
The Prime Minister's statement of regret yesterday was accompanied by a solid dose of frustration, too.
Morrison is frustrated Holgate is suggesting her gender was a factor and he's frustrated Labor doesn't seem to be wearing any opprobrium for stirring up the scandal in the first place. After all, it was Anthony Albanese who asked Morrison in Parliament:
"how on his watch, in the middle of the worst recession in almost a century, with one million Australians unemployed, businesses collapsing and a trillion dollars of Liberal debt, this government is taking no action against the Liberal-appointed Australia Post board, which spent $12,000 of taxpayers' money on Cartier watches?"
This was a classic example of the Opposition Leader's tactic of pushing, prodding and provoking — in search of the "Morrison temper". On this occasion, Albanese found it. "Angry Morrison" is what Labor wants voters to see, not the "ScoMo daggy dad".
All in all, the Christine Holgate saga has been another episode of poor political management by the government. The Prime Minister's initial outburst in parliament clearly left the CEO humiliated. Then, over the next six months, it seems no one even attempted to reach out and defuse the situation before the ex-Australia Post boss unloaded at a Senate hearing this week.
There's a parallel here with the handling of the Brittany Higgins case. No one in the government reached out to the alleged rape victim for weeks after she went public, until Tracey Grimshaw suggested to the Prime Minister it might be a good idea. A meeting between the two still hasn't happened but is expected to go ahead in the next few weeks.
Not all problems can be sorted out by talking, but in the very different cases of Christine Holgate and Brittany Higgins, at least offering to have a chat early in the piece would have been smart politics and, indeed, the empathetic thing to do.
Shifting course on vaccines
Which brings us to the vaccine rollout and the Prime Minister's belated recognition of the need to chat more regularly and work more cooperatively with the states and territories.
National Cabinet, currently meeting every two months, will shift to two meetings a week from Monday. This puts it back to the "war footing" of a year ago, when governments were first working out how to respond to the pandemic.
Sure, the "war footing" is a jarring shift from the "this is not a race" rhetoric of a month ago and yes, it will make it easier for all leaders to spread the blame for future problems in the rollout. But more regular consultation between the two tiers of government on this huge logistical undertaking is clearly a good idea.
More importantly, Morrison has also opened the way to devolve greater responsibility to the states to deliver jabs at "mass vaccination centres" for over-50s from as early as June. He says work is underway on the risk management and resourcing that may be required for these centres. They won't fix supply problems, but should speed up delivery for those who are ready and willing to get a jab.
The Prime Minister's willingness to shift course, give some ground to the states and work more cooperatively through National Cabinet on the vaccine rollout is a concession of sorts.
It's not an admission of blame, mind you, but an acknowledgement that neither he, nor Australia, can afford any more problems and delays.
David Speers is the host of Insiders, which airs on ABC TV at 9am on Sunday or on iview.
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