“Prime Minister Scott Morrison is already demonstrating his mastery of the tactic of fear mongering with the aim of making the electorate nervous about any change of government,” writes political columnist MICHAEL MOORE.

FEAR of the Chinese, fear of mandates, fear of over-regulation, fear of economic woes, fear of religious discrimination and fear of refugees are just a taste of the range of fears that will underpin the upcoming election.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is already demonstrating his mastery of the tactic of fear mongering with the aim of making the electorate nervous about any change of government.

The fear of China as a growing international power plays into the hands of the Morrison government and allows them to portray Labor as weak on international security. As Danielle Chubb and Ian McAllister have pointed out in The Conversation, by depicting Labor as “weak” on China, Defence Minister Peter Dutton is hoping fears of China’s global ambitions will provide an electoral advantage to the Coalition.

Deputy Labor leader Richard Marles was described by the Prime Minister as “the Manchurian candidate” and Peter Dutton claimed China had picked Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese as their candidate. Many of our readers will be aware of the same tactic from years ago as “reds under the bed” was used to invoke fear of Chinese Communism.

Fear mongering goes beyond national security. Morrison appealed to the “Convoy to Canberra” protesters saying the protesters were “speaking up for the things they feel strongly about” and “Australia is a free country and they have a right to protest,” he said. “I would ask them to do that in a peaceful and respectful way.” 

The intention was to put a wedge between his own government and the governments of the states and territories, which he blamed for the mandates.

Morrison wants voters’ real fear to be the possibility of a Labor government. In contrast, Albanese did not mince his words when he told the protesters to “go home”. 

Fear of religious persecution has been pursued by the Prime Minister since the last election. His failure to even convince his own backbenchers of the merits of his Bill carries no weight. His media stunt at the pulpit of a Lebanese Maronite Catholic church extolled the virtues of the failed legislation and encouraged fear of religious persecution. Poor policy, but effective electioneering!

Mixing church and state does not seem an issue for Morrison, who has seen an opportunity to shore up support from conservative Christians with untenable legislation. No doubt he will continue to pursue it publicly even though he knows there is little likelihood of getting it through either house of the federal parliament.

Appealing to the electorate on fear of economic mismanagement by Labor has been a cornerstone of Liberal policies for a series of elections. Again and again they reiterated the fear of an economic deficit. Well, until it became necessary in the light of the international pandemic! Suddenly, a deficit was not such a bad thing. Good economic management included low-interest borrowings and a deficit that could be covered by economic growth without increased taxation. 

It will not be long before the Morrison government attacks Labor on taxation. Fear of having to pay more taxes, even when there is considerable community benefit, has been bread and butter for the conservatives for decades. It has been a successful tactic and is unlikely to be left on the back shelf.

Fear of restricting freedoms through over-regulation is being offered to Morrison on a golden platter. Australia’s early successes in preventing deaths and maintaining hospital places while other countries were devastated by COVID-19 will fall into distant memories. #scottyfrommarketing has the skills to ensure that the strongest memories will be of mandates, lockdowns and other restrictions. 

The implications will be that Labor will continue down this path while the Liberals will be the government of liberation from personal restrictions and business regulation. 

“Stop the boats” remains a tool that the Liberals are not prepared to let go. Fear of refugees and racism is the underlying discourse. The appalling treatment of the Tamil asylum-seeking Murugappan family from Biloela is illustrative of the lengths the government will go to in order to maintain a fear of boat people and other refugees.

The big question remains. How will Labor respond? Will they consider it necessary to fight fire with fire or will they appeal to the electorate in other ways?