A certain foreign minister recently dined with the svengali of Australian politics, Rupert Murdoch. Why is that significant? Because, Murdoch doesn’t do these things just to be ‘sociable‘. I think he did it because he’s formed a view that unless Tony Abbott goes, the Libs will get hammered at the next election. He’s a man who cherishes his role as our puppeteer in chief and was needed to give Julie Bishop the green light to go for it. No worries, the decks are clear; the memo’s gone out to the editors of the Telegraph, Courier-Mail, Herald Sun and Sunday Times…..

And the bad news is that Julie Bishop will soon be Rupert’s new plaything and Australia’s prime minister (with Malcolm Turnbull as Treasurer). And the news gets even worse because, unlike Julia Gillard who had the Murdoch press baying for her blood for 3 years, Julie Bishop will get a magic carpet ride from the same propaganda song sheet.

It’ll be interesting to look back on this post in a couple of months to see that I was right.

To those who think Minister for Inhuman Services, Scott Morrison will get the top job, I sincerely hope you’re wrong.
I think even the hard right in the Liberal Party (who are currently in control) will see Morrison as too much of a ‘lightning rod’ for PM but as a ‘can-do’ hardnut treasurer, they’ll love it (that’s if the pragmatists who are currently holding their noses and supporting Turnbull, can’t dissuade them). If they do go for Morrison, it’ll be time to start looking out for fluttering squarish flags with a black motif on a red background.

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What do you think? Who do you think will replace Abbott?

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