Scott Morrison, Nowhere to be Seen

I recall a time when state politics was seen as a bit of a joke, an overly bureaucratic echelon of government that did not warrant multi-page spreads in our papers. Who even remembers Dennis Napthine? I recall a time when premier Daniel Andrews was referred to by his opposition as Andrew Daniels, a slight at his minute public profile. Before the pandemic, I liked that Daniel Andrews removed some level crossings near me which improved traffic. I appreciate that his politics align pretty closely with my views, but, like most I would argue, the Victorian Parliament did not occupy much of my thoughts. Whether or not you have been impressed with his handling of the pandemic or feel he has overstepped his boundaries with mask mandates and lockdowns, he absolutely no longer suffers from a lack of exposure. People hang on his every word, pause workdays awaiting his press conferences, and make long-winded social media posts on their thoughts about him, as state politics now affects all our lives in material and serious ways.

In the furore and heated debate over our Premier’s use of his executive powers, one topic that has flown under the radar is our federal government’s inaction on this crisis. It has now been a year since Coronavirus hit headlines and the Morrison government, true to form, has continued to palm off responsibility to State premiers and Governments, missing in action on hotel quarantine and popping up every now and then to critique each state’s handling of the crisis, like a teacher employing a hands-off approach after assigning his student’s…