Hossen Sohel: Aus-tralia’s new Prime Minister Scott Morrison, ele-cted to heal his fractured party, faces his biggest test on Monday, in steering the government through a hostile first session of parliament, reports Reuters.
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 honeymoon period.
“How Morrison performs over the next fortnight will be critical,” John Hewson, former leader of the Liberal Party, told Reuters.
“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 party.
But even before Morrison even faces opposition lawmakers as leader for the first time, he will have to contend with Australia’s most prominent political poll, due to be published late on Sunday.
The influential Newspoll, which has been a key driver in the demise of several leaders, showed support for Morrison’s government at a decade low last month.
Keen to minimize 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 as leader 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.
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