“The ‘bubble’ that Morrison likes to call his Canberra workplace has popped. All the clever marketing devices have scattered into the public arena as lies, hypocrisies, bullying and deceit,” writes “The Gadfly” columnist ROBERT MACKLIN.

THE Morrison government is so grievously wounded – by its own hand – it would be an act of simple decency to put it out of its misery. With a landslide.

And given the walloping the Libs took in the recent NSW by-elections, it does seem that a big chunk of unaligned voters is about to break off the cliff face and sweep them from the mountainside.

There will, of course, be lots of survivors. And first out of the wreckage will emerge the shiny pate of Peter Dutton to lead his battered followers in Opposition. It will be a long way back.

All of the above, I happily admit, is more hope than prognostication. That’s the way of all political commentary: the wish, as they say, is father of the thought. 

It’s why pollsters ask their selected “swinging” voters: “Who do you think will win the election?” They know that Jill and Joe Bloggs have no special insight, but their answers reveal their secret wish, and their votes will probably be cast in its favour. 

For example, when pressed to explain why they think the government will get back, Jill and Joe will find a way to sound middle of the road-ish. “It will be a khaki election,” they’ll say, “and you know what the Australian people are like – they’re scared of China.” Or, with a heavy sigh: “Anthony Albanese just doesn’t seem to stand for anything.” 

They willingly concede that the Morrison government has bungled the aged care system, the vaccine rollout, a federal ICAC, climate change, the religious discrimination Bill, pork barrelling, rejection of the “Uluru Statement from the Heart”, the domestic violence crisis and justice for women, to name but a few. But still, they’ll say: “People forget. The Coalition is better on the economy and everyone wrote Scomo off last time…”

Well, some did. I was among those who thought it was insupportable to reward Bill Shorten for a career of political backstabbing with an elevation to The Lodge. 

But they’re certainly right that Morrison wants a khaki election. He set the scene with his demand for an inquiry into the “real” source of coronavirus suggesting it “escaped” from a Wuhan chemical warfare unit. He ramped up the Uighur mass “re-education” to an accusation of “genocide”.

He damned Chinese “aggression” in the South China Sea without a single interference to any commercial shipping. And somehow, he misplaced our long-term One China policy, thoroughly offended the French with AUKUS and joined a Quad that is about as schoolboyish as it sounds.

No wonder Pretend Emperor Xi stopped buying bulk barley and Barossa’s best (though kept the Australian dollar afloat with massive iron-ore imports). Undeterred, Morrison has been anti-China buzzing like a blowfly in a bottle. And the Russia/Ukraine imbroglio is providing the pictorial backdrop with big tanks and missile launchers in splendid array.

Meanwhile, the “bubble” that Morrison likes to call his Canberra workplace has popped. All the clever marketing devices have scattered into the public arena as lies, hypocrisies, bullying and deceit. It’s a bit like the “Wizard of Oz” – when young Dorothy got up close, she discovered he was really just a silly old white man pretending to make “miracles”.

But that doesn’t mean Labor is a shoo-in. The “Four Corners” program had one unmistakable message from Jill and Joe Bloggs: “What does Anthony Albanese really stand for?”

robert@robertmacklin.com