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AUSTRALIA-POLITICS
New Australian PM under pressure for maiden address
SYDNEY, Sept 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Australia’s new prime minister Scott
Morrison’s maiden address to parliament on Monday was overshadowed by a poll
indicating he may soon be out of a job.
Morrison — an evangelical Christian and former head of Australian tourism
— stepped up to the dispatch box for a boisterous first session of prime
ministerial questions with the future of his own two-week-old administration
already in doubt.
Earlier Monday, a Newspoll survey showed his ruling Liberal Party trailing
badly against the opposition, amid public unease over squabbling and
careerism inside the ruling party.
Despite adequate personal approval ratings, Morrison’s Liberals have the
support of just 44 percent of voters, versus the Labor Party’s 56 percent,
implying a looming electoral rout.
With elections expected by May next year, it is a gloomy political backdrop
for the 50-year-old, who has struggled to parry questions about the
leadership coup that brought him to power.
The Liberals removed Malcom Turnbull as prime minister two weeks ago during
a bruising leadership challenge that exposed plotting, backstabbing and
infighting within the party.
Morrison prompted wry laughs in the chamber when he offered Turnbull his
“best wishes” but largely used his inaugural appearance to try and turn the
page — focusing on the solid economic growth this G20 economy has seen for
the last 27 years.
Morrison said he would follow the dictum of Gulf War general “Stormin'”
Norman Schwarzkopf and “take charge”.
“That’s what I propose to do, take charge to ensure that we continue the
stable government that has delivered the strong economy that has seen a
million people come into work since we were elected in 2013,” he said.
But opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten was having none of it, turning the
knife with questions about why Turnbull was removed.
“They cannot answer the very first question that every Australian has been
asking for the last 16 days: Why was Malcolm Turnbull sacked?” he said
caustically.
Australia is no stranger to leadership upheaval — having six changes of
prime ministers in the past decade — but Morrison’s arrival comes at a
precarious time.
After a decades-long boom there are warning signs that Australia’s economy,
the fifth largest in Asia, may have entered choppier waters with a disconnect
between healthy GDP figures and weak wages growth.
The number two at Australia’s central bank on Monday warned about household
debt, which stands at among the highest levels of any developed economy.
There are also growing concerns that the real estate market, a key driver
of growth may be cooling.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1159 hrs