PM heads into hostile waters

Sydney – Australia’s new Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, elected to heal his fractured party, faces his biggest test in steering the government through a hostile first session of parliament on Monday.

Picked last month by the ruling Liberal Party to become the sixth prime minister in the last decade following a backbench revolt that ousted predecessor Malcolm Turnbull, Morrison has enjoyed a brief honeymooon period.

“How Morrison performs over the next fortnight will be critical,” said John Hewson, former leader of the Liberal Party.

“Bill Shorten, leader of Australia’s Labor Party, will be sitting like a mosquito in a nudist colony, he has so much to bite into,” he added. “The only trouble he will have is deciding where to begin.” Labor is the largest opposition. But even before Morrison even faces opposition lawmakers for the first time as leader, he will have to contend with Australia’s most prominent political poll, due to be published on Sunday.

The Newspoll, which has been a key driver in the demise of several leaders, showed support for Morrison’s government was at a decade low last month.

Keen to minimise the impact, Cabinet ministers said the next Newspoll result would improve quickly. But another poor poll outcome would step up pressure on the government.

Morrison, a former treasurer, has spent his first two weeks trying to heal factional divides and soften his public image, culminating in a call for “Australians to love each other”.

A compromise candidate, he only won after moderates rallied behind him, enabling the defeat of right-wing rival and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton.

But Morrison’s slim victory margin of just five votes shows how deep the party divide is.

One of those votes was cast by Turnbull, whose resignation from parliament cost Morrison his parliamentary majority. With 75 elected lawmakers, the government is one shy of an outright majority.

“There are some bruised people in the party,” said Grahame Morris, former chief of staff to exprime minister John Howard.

Desperate to heal the rift, Morrison has retained in their Cabinet positions nearly all the conservative activists behind Turnbull’s ouster.