On 60 Minutes last night, all those too curious to avoid tuning in witnessed a tried and tested political marketing ploy. Scott Morrison, facing accusations of being a psycho and having a general lack of human-like traits, desperately needed an image reset.
Enter Jenny Morrison.
It’s the classic “wheel in the wife” strategy, where a political partner is brought in to normalise the PM and provide a character witness to say, hey, he’s not so bad after all. But just how have the spouses through Australia’s political history tackled the role? There are a few different approaches…
The humanising spouse
Last night Jenny Morrison provided a “woman’s touch” to soften Morrison’s image as a calculated and ruthless political player, and to say things Morrison simply couldn’t. In a message to the “quiet Australians” who probably aren’t as enamoured of Grace Tame’s side-eye as some, Jenny lamented her lack of manners. She took the blame for the Hawaii decisions and and rationalised Morrison’s infamous “Jenny has a way of explaining things comment” after the Brittany Higgins rape allegations.
The last time we saw a PM and their partner on 60 Minutes it was Julia Gillard and Tim Mathieson. About a year into her prime ministership, Gillard — our first and only female prime minister — and Mathieson sat down so Australians could get to know the so-called first bloke. Although apparently it wasn’t easy to get them into the studio, the interview served to unravel some of the mystery surrounding Gillard’s private life, and softened her image amid “absurd” gossip about their relationship.
Power couples
Australia has seen a number of prime ministerial marriages where the wife is just as qualified as the man in the top job, if not more so.
Take Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull. A politician in her own right as the former lord mayor of Sydney, she has held a range of prominent positions in a long career. During Turnbull’s prime ministership they occasionally did media interviews together, but for the most part it was just loving, respectful mentions by Turnbull of his stalwart, smart wife.
Or John and Janette Howard: always at John’s side on the campaign trail, she was a political force. Although she largely kept silent publicly, Howard biographer Pru Goward said she “lives and breathes politics”. She apparently played an active role in Howard’s deliberations and electoral work.
And then there was Kevin Rudd and Therese Rein. Rein was a successful entrepreneur, and was the first PM’s spouse to stay in the workforce throughout the gig. She was a loyal and consistent spouse, and was arguably more popular than her husband in the end.
Going back in time a bit, Gough and Margaret Whitlam were the original political power couple. The Whitlams stuck together through door-knocking in his early campaigns, all the way to the top job in Canberra. She was the first Australian political wife to openly give her views and appear heavily in campaigns.
Invisible wives
We don’t know much about Annita Keating or Margie Abbott — whether because of a hatred of politics or of the spotlight they elected to stay behind the scenes. Another fairly quiet wife was Hazel Hawke, although she probably falls under the “long-suffering” category given the long-running affairs of husband Bob.
Where’s the wife?
Perhaps part of the strategy of centring Jenny in this campaign is to highlight the fact that Anthony Albanese is not married. While people continue to wonder who Albanese is, he doesn’t have a wife to wheel out to explain that he is human after all.
At the closing of 60 Minutes last night an Albanese profile was promised for the coming weeks. If he’s looking to capitalise on the same strategy as Morrison, maybe he’ll debut his new partner. After all, a loving spouse never goes astray on the campaign trail. Apparently.
Is bringing out the spouse a fair enough ploy or does it make you feel a little ill? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
