A desperate last-bid for the female vote may have partly been why Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared he was reconsidering his leadership style in recent weeks, conceding he can be “a bit of a bulldozer”.
He was able to more literally demonstrate such bulldozing, when he accidentally crash tackled a kid on a soccer field this week.
But yet Morrison, let’s call him now “The Real Scott” — just like what former prime minister Julia Gillard copped when she declared she would be showing her more authentic side to voters — only spent a few days in his revamped public image, before backtracking on the comments during a Channel Nine interview with Tracy Grimshaw.
The Real Scott is the one who believes in miracles, over his own legacy.
He believes in desperately playing to party allies to keep his job, over driving policy reforms and enabling opportunities to create a better Australia.
He believes in marketing messages and slogans, over real substance.
He believes in running, over staying the course. He believes in keeping his holidays, over responding with everything he has during an emergency.
He believes in the ‘fun’ of the job, over the most challenging and difficult parts. He’ll attempt to shake the hands of the victims, if there’s a photo opportunity in it, but he won’t hold the hose.
He believes in “regrets” over “apologies” and even such regrets only come when he knows his back is truly up against the wall. He never apologised for saying those protesting women’s rights were lucky they were not “met with bullets”. He never apologised for firing and humiliating a prominent female CEO on the floor of parliament.
Morrison has previously described himself as a “doer” over a man who cares or thinks about legacy. A word that might be palatable, if he’d actually been doing things. As he recently told Nine: “When prime ministers think about their legacy, they stop think about today and what they have to do now.”
From the bungled vaccine rollout, to going MIA during the bushfire crisis, to fumbling through some half-baked climate commitments and embarrassing Australia on the world stage. From failing to mention and hardly think about women’s safey and economic security, until he had no other choice but to do so.
There really hasn’t been a lot of meaningful action by The Real Scott during his term in office.
Instead, we’ve seen a leader who will do everything to stay in the job over actually doing the job. A leader described as a hypocrite, liar and worse, by his own party colleagues.
A real leader considers their legacy: what they will leave behind once their time in the position has ended, the long-lasting impact of their work.
A real leader learns from their mistakes, over repeating them over and over again.
A real leader apologises, over having “regrets” and then telling lies and falsehoods to avoid taking responsibility for the truth.
A real leader has empathy.
The Real Scott Morrison is not that type of leader.
Now it’s time for the real women’s vote, giving the final verdict on the Real Morrison Government.