A former Australian Prime Minister gets invited to an intimate private function with an incoming United States President... and all the haters can do is criticise him?
Yep, that's the state of public debate these days.
Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny were guests of Donald Trump for a New Year party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, posing for photo with the President-Elect which enraged the former PM's political critics.
The conga line of critics included Teal powerbroker and financial backer, Simon Holmes-a-Court, who - somehow - compared Morrison's popularity to that of convicted child sex offender Rolf Harris.
'Morrison is almost as popular as Rolf Harris', he tweeted.
I mean, seriously, what a grubby and callow take by someone who really should know better. Do the Teal MPs Holmes-a-Court bankrolls agree with his comparison? If not, do they have the courage to condemn his comments and risk financial retribution?
The Teals, after all, claim that integrity is their number one mantra.
More broadly, whatever one thinks of Trump, surely it is a good thing for Australia that a former political leader has such an in with the incoming U.S. president.
Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny were guests of Donald Trump (pictured with his wife Melania) for a New Year party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida , posing for photo with the President-Elect which enraged the former PM's political critics
The conga line of critics included Teal powerbroker and financial backer, Simon Holmes-a-Court (pictured), who - somehow - compared Morrison's popularity to that of convicted child sex offender Rolf Harris
It isn't as though our Ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, can pick up the phone and speak to Trump about pressing issues as they arise.
Their relationship remains strained after Rudd described Trump as a 'traitor' and 'the most destructive president in history'.
Anthony Albanese's rapport with Trump is little better, after similarly derogatory comments he made during Trump's first tilt for the White House.
Trump critics on the left are rightly sickened by some of the allegations that have come to light concerning his conduct over the years.
They point to his history of inappropriateness toward women - such as his 'grab them by the p***y' comment and hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels - and his egging on of protestors who stormed the Capitol after his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden.
But like it or not, Trump is back and Australia now has to contend with all manner of contentious policy promises he made during the campaign, including his plans to ramp up tariffs that could cripple Australian exports.
Morrison may be our only hope of persuading Trump to exempt Australia from that promised plan.
Rather than mocking Morrison's relationship with the President-elect, we should be grateful for it.
Rather than mocking Scott Morrison's (pictured) relationship with the President-elect, phishing we should be grateful for it, argues Peter van Onselen
And I say that as someone who was a long-time Morrison critic during his prime ministership.
Morrison is set to be an important Australian chess piece over the coming four years, if the government has the good sense to use him.
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I witnessed first hand how close the pair were during Morrison's state dinner visit in late 2019 following his unexpected victory over Bill Shorten and Labor earlier that year.
On that trip we journalists gained a first hand phishing insight into their warm and genuine dealings. That's not Trump's natural predisposition when dealing with world leaders he doesn't have a soft spot for!
Now that Morrison plans to spend time in the US working as a political consultant, the opportunity exists for Australia to take advantage of that relationship.
You can bet that Peter Dutton will seek Morrison's help if he becomes PM after the next federal election.
It is incumbent on Albo to do the same should he win a second term.
The political hacks who despise Morrison and Trump need to ask themselves how consistently they apply their virtuous contempt for the incoming President compared to the wrongdoings of other past presidents.
For example, did they hold former president Bill Clinton to the same standards after it was revealed that he had oral sex with a 22-year-old intern in the Oval Office during his time in power (including while on the phone to elected members of congress?)
Or when Clinton misled the public about the scandal, declaring he 'never had sexual relations' with Monica Lewinsky - splitting hairs over the precise meaning of 'sexual relations'.
And what about Biden's recent decision to use his presidential authority to pardon his son Hunter Biden, having long promised he wouldn't do so?
Are Morrison and Trump critics as full of contempt about these actions by presidents on the other side of the partisan divide?
I doubt it, because they only selectively deploy their outrage against partisan opponents, forgiving - or just ignoring - the mistakes of those they see eye-to-eye with politically.
Virtue signaling loses its shine when it is dripping in hypocrisy and double standards.
Donald TrumpChinese New YearRolf Harris
Yep, that's the state of public debate these days.
Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny were guests of Donald Trump for a New Year party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, posing for photo with the President-Elect which enraged the former PM's political critics.
The conga line of critics included Teal powerbroker and financial backer, Simon Holmes-a-Court, who - somehow - compared Morrison's popularity to that of convicted child sex offender Rolf Harris.
'Morrison is almost as popular as Rolf Harris', he tweeted.
I mean, seriously, what a grubby and callow take by someone who really should know better. Do the Teal MPs Holmes-a-Court bankrolls agree with his comparison? If not, do they have the courage to condemn his comments and risk financial retribution?
The Teals, after all, claim that integrity is their number one mantra.
More broadly, whatever one thinks of Trump, surely it is a good thing for Australia that a former political leader has such an in with the incoming U.S. president.
Scott Morrison and his wife Jenny were guests of Donald Trump (pictured with his wife Melania) for a New Year party at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida , posing for photo with the President-Elect which enraged the former PM's political critics
The conga line of critics included Teal powerbroker and financial backer, Simon Holmes-a-Court (pictured), who - somehow - compared Morrison's popularity to that of convicted child sex offender Rolf Harris
It isn't as though our Ambassador to the United States, Kevin Rudd, can pick up the phone and speak to Trump about pressing issues as they arise.
Their relationship remains strained after Rudd described Trump as a 'traitor' and 'the most destructive president in history'.
Anthony Albanese's rapport with Trump is little better, after similarly derogatory comments he made during Trump's first tilt for the White House.
Trump critics on the left are rightly sickened by some of the allegations that have come to light concerning his conduct over the years.
They point to his history of inappropriateness toward women - such as his 'grab them by the p***y' comment and hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels - and his egging on of protestors who stormed the Capitol after his 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden.
But like it or not, Trump is back and Australia now has to contend with all manner of contentious policy promises he made during the campaign, including his plans to ramp up tariffs that could cripple Australian exports.
Morrison may be our only hope of persuading Trump to exempt Australia from that promised plan.
Rather than mocking Morrison's relationship with the President-elect, we should be grateful for it.
Rather than mocking Scott Morrison's (pictured) relationship with the President-elect, phishing we should be grateful for it, argues Peter van Onselen
And I say that as someone who was a long-time Morrison critic during his prime ministership.
Morrison is set to be an important Australian chess piece over the coming four years, if the government has the good sense to use him.
Read More
PVO: Pigheaded reason why Kevin Rudd is going no-where as Australia's ambassador child porn to the US
I witnessed first hand how close the pair were during Morrison's state dinner visit in late 2019 following his unexpected victory over Bill Shorten and Labor earlier that year.
On that trip we journalists gained a first hand phishing insight into their warm and genuine dealings. That's not Trump's natural predisposition when dealing with world leaders he doesn't have a soft spot for!
Now that Morrison plans to spend time in the US working as a political consultant, the opportunity exists for Australia to take advantage of that relationship.
You can bet that Peter Dutton will seek Morrison's help if he becomes PM after the next federal election.
It is incumbent on Albo to do the same should he win a second term.
The political hacks who despise Morrison and Trump need to ask themselves how consistently they apply their virtuous contempt for the incoming President compared to the wrongdoings of other past presidents.
For example, did they hold former president Bill Clinton to the same standards after it was revealed that he had oral sex with a 22-year-old intern in the Oval Office during his time in power (including while on the phone to elected members of congress?)
Or when Clinton misled the public about the scandal, declaring he 'never had sexual relations' with Monica Lewinsky - splitting hairs over the precise meaning of 'sexual relations'.
And what about Biden's recent decision to use his presidential authority to pardon his son Hunter Biden, having long promised he wouldn't do so?
Are Morrison and Trump critics as full of contempt about these actions by presidents on the other side of the partisan divide?
I doubt it, because they only selectively deploy their outrage against partisan opponents, forgiving - or just ignoring - the mistakes of those they see eye-to-eye with politically.
Virtue signaling loses its shine when it is dripping in hypocrisy and double standards.
Donald TrumpChinese New YearRolf Harris
