Strategic incompetence and the current state of federalism
by Professor Susan Harris Rimmer and Adam Chappell
Another Federal Election is on the horizon, and political commentators across the country are making predictions about when voters will head to the polls. Most pundits agree that the easing of border restrictions brought on by high vaccination coverage will lead to a date being set, as Prime Minister Scott Morrison will undoubtedly want to capitalise on the goodwill of the Australian public that a return to freedom would provide. The critiques of seasoned commentators such as Laura Tingle and Dennis Atkins of the Morrison government’s policy failures might mean this boost is required.
This campaign however, will be unlike any before it. That is because the political landscape in Australia has undergone a large shift since the start of the pandemic nearly two years ago. No longer does the Federal Government take charge in this country. These days, the States are doing all of the heavy lifting. Strategic incompetence was defined in a Wall Street Journal article as the art of avoiding undesirable tasks by pretending to be unable to do them. Is this what we are seeing in Australian federalism on pandemic and climate policy?
Each year, the Australian Financial Review releases a list of the most powerful people in the country. This year, for the first time, the four Premiers of Australia’s most populated states, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, ranked higher than the Prime Minister.
Since emerging victorious from the coup that ousted Malcolm Turnbull in 2018, Scott Morrison has become synonymous with being able to spin his way out of problems. It is a tactic that helped him earn the moniker ‘Scotty from Marketing’.
When Australia was burning during the bushfire crisis, he jetted off to Hawaii and claimed that “he didn’t hold a hose”. When Australia failed to order enough vaccines in the middle of a deadly pandemic, he said the vaccine rollout “was not a race”. This month he refused to shoulder any blame for the diplomatic blundering that was the cancellation of the French submarine contract, and prevaricated about attending the upcoming UN Climate Summit in Glasgow with a last-minute pledge.
Every time there is a tough decision to be made, the Morrison Government shirks responsibility. Any smidgen of leadership or backbone that one would expect from a Prime Minister has been completely abdicated to the State Premiers, and that’s what will make this Federal Election campaign unique. State leaders have become increasingly more important in the national decision-making process, and they will likely play a very large role in this campaign.
It will be telling if Scott Morrison’s personal animosity towards the Labor leaders, particularly Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Victorian Premier Dan Andrews and Western Australia Premier McGowan, has a negative impact on his chances of winning another term of Government. In order to gain a fresh term, Morrison will need to win over voters in Queensland and Western Australia. Yet for the majority of the pandemic, the Prime Minister has done a great job of antagonising them.
When every State Health Minister in the country, both Liberal and Labor, penned a letter to the Federal Government asking for more hospital funding, Morrison singled out Queensland for criticism. Despite there being clear evidence from across the globe that when borders open up, hospital systems become overwhelmed, the Prime Minister decided to label Queensland as ‘extortionists’.
Most politicians worth their salt are quite careful with their choice of words, so Morrison’s use of language leading up to an important campaign was significant. Don’t forget that a few weeks ago he also labelled Western Australia as ‘cave dwellers’.
It’s not just relationships with Labor Premiers that Morrison needs to worry about. He’s also struggling to keep his party room together. Amidst a growing push for Australia to commit to a net zero emissions target, the PM met with a number of Liberal MPs in marginal inner-city seats who are concerned about losing votes due to a lack of action on climate change. On the flipside of the coin, many National MPs are relentlessly opposed to climate action targets as they think it will anger their regional constituents. Quite the conundrum for the LNP.
But it’s not as if Australia had a strong environmental reputation to begin with. In the latest Sustainable Development Report released by the United Nations this year, Australia was ranked 35th among 193 countries for climate action.
A lack of commitment to any climate action will undoubtedly have a negative impact on Australia’s trade relationships and export income moving forward.
Once again, it is being left up to the States to take action. The NSW State Government has committed to cutting its emissions in half by 2030, while Queensland has just announced that they will soon be home to the world’s largest green hydrogen manufacturing facility. These commitments will no doubt add domestic and international pressure on the Morrison Government.
A report released by think tank Beyond Zero Emissions recently found that Australia has the potential to develop a renewable energy and green exports industry worth nearly triple the value of existing fossil fuel industries. There is a very real chance for Australia right now to re-industrialise and become a green export powerhouse. What a shame we have don’t have any Federal leadership.
Not only has there been a yielding of leadership from the Federal level, there has been a complete lack of accountability as well. The recent focus on anti-corruption at a State level, and subsequent resignations in NSW, indicate that the States are again doing all the heavy lifting right now.
Despite very public condemnation of Christian Porter accepting money from a blind trust to cover his legal fees, Scott Morrison is still refusing the idea of a Federal ICAC, likely because the majority of his cabinet would be under investigation. Interestingly, even controversial MP Craig Kelly has backed the idea, saying it will “keep Governments and bureaucrats honest”.
Is this a new phase of federalism, with the Federal Government vacating the field to the States on the most pressing issues?
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
SUSAN HARRIS RIMMER
Professor Susan Harris Rimmer is the Director of the Griffith University Policy Innovation Hub. She was previously the Deputy Head of School (Research) in the Griffith Law School and prior to joining Griffith was the Director of Studies at the ANU Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy.
With Professor Sara Davies, Susan is co-convenor of the Griffith Gender Equality Research Network. Sue also leads the Climate Justice theme of the new Griffith Climate Action Beacon.
Susan is the 2021 winner of the Fulbright Scholarship in Australian-United States Alliance Studies and will be hosted by Georgetown University in Washington DC.
Follow Sue on Twitter
ADAM CHAPPELL
Adam is a Government and International Relations Honours student and Intern at Policy Innovation Hub
