Thread by @MrKRudd

There's so much lacking in Morrison's latest policy backflip: a quarantine station in the middle of Brisbane. I barely know where to start. After his failures on quarantine, this smells like a political fix aided and abetted by Murdoch's #CourierFail.

A thread.

Morrison has made an unmitigated mess of quarantine, evidenced by the thousands of Aussies still trapped overseas. He promised they'd all be home by last Christmas. Many (including me) called on Morrison to consider regional defence bases for quarantine. He has repeatedly refused

While Albo & Labor Premiers campaigned for national quarantine, Morrison's Liberals scoffed & criticised. They rejected a concrete QLD proposal for Toowoomba, outside Brisbane. Rostered staff could stay on-site to prevent constant interaction between them and the community.

The Brisbane quarantine floated by Morrison would almost inevitably have staff moving around the city in their off-hours, spreading the virus around the community. It's much safer to have properly paid staff staying on-site while rostered on, then going home.

This is one of the biggest problems using hotels - one potentially deadly outbreak every six weeks. At Howard Springs, where staff stay on-site, there have been ZERO breaches. Morrison arrogantly wants us to think he's doing great. But here's what other countries are saying...

Morrison's proposed facility won't even be ready until next year—two years into the pandemic. QLD's completed Wellcamp proposal was on the table 4 months ago. If Morrison had backed it then, it would be running now. At every turn, Morrison slow-walked Labor's solutions to death.

And how has Murdoch aided this shameful backflip?

First, this proposal went to Palaszczuk on Thursday night. But Murdoch's #CourierFail already had it ready to roll for the front page. Do Murdoch's henchmen stop to question their role in this propaganda machine? Not for a moment

Second, Murdoch's papers have personally blamed premiers for outbreaks and border closures in Labor states, but show none of the same ruthlessness when state and federal Liberals are in charge. Relax everyone, it's "Covid calm".

Third, pretending national quarantine is a fresh debate. Experts have called for purpose-built facilities since early last year. Even if Morrison wants to claim ignorance, in October 2020 he was directly advised by Jane Halton AO to build the facility for 'surge capacity'.

And did you ever notice how Murdoch editors love using Morrison’s self-ascribed nickname “ScoMo” to soften his image? Sometimes it’s the very respectable “PM” when he needs a bit of gravitas, but rarely “Morrison”.

This brings us finally to why we're talking about this today. The answer: Morrison knows he's stuffed quarantine and vaccines. He doesn't want to be blamed for Sydney lockdowns so, with Murdoch's backing, he rushes out these wafer-thin proposal as a distraction. Pure politics.

Australians need news that isn’t dominated by a single player. Murdoch functions like a party in coalition with the LNP, advancing their narrow commercial and ideological agenda. It's a rotten protection racket.

Get #MurdochRoyalCommission updates: MurdochRC.com