Where Has Leadership Gone?

If our political leaders are rubbish, who do we look to in times of crisis?

Right now, at this moment, I am sitting writing this in Finland. I am a resident here. It’s now my home. But the country of my birth, Australia, is burning.

Huge firestorms ravage the landscape. It is on a scale almost impossible to imagine.

In the past month, I have seen friends lose their vineyard, relatives evacuated, friends of friends lose houses and property. People I don’t know have lost their lives.

Some of the fires have been burning since September. The fires are spread out all over the huge continent. They have only gotten worse in the last few weeks. And summer has barely begun.

The political response from the leaders of Australia has been, at best, disappointing. At worst, an embarrassing void of nothingness. And it has been noted. Globally.

The political response from the leaders of Australia has been, at best, disappointing.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has been absent. Literally. He went on holiday to Hawaii as fires were threatening homes and lives in two states. This decision seems bizarre to most people.

A country under extreme threat needs a leader who is present, in touch, ready to make decisions. Someone who has their back.

This is not Scott Morrison. He does not have anyone’s back but his own.

His incredibly slow response to these horrendous fires is a disgrace. Only on the 4th of January did he announced any kind of tangible help. Army Reserves have been called up to assist those who have been fighting fires (all volunteers) for weeks (some for months). Water bombing planes have been chartered at some attempt to curtail the huge fire fronts in three states.

This slow response and apparent lack of empathy leads to the question, where is the leadership? When disaster strikes and people are worried and scared, they look to the leaders of a country for help and for answers, and in this case, they got nothing.

I am not alone in asking this question. For weeks Australians have been asking where their leader is. With little response.

On January 2nd the PM hosted a reception at his home for the National Cricket Team before the Test match against New Zealand. Complete with smiling photos of himself with the team, I am pretty sure his smug grin in the safety of his mansion is the last thing the thousands of people affected by the bushfires want to see. Yet there it was.

This article compares New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern’s response in the face of tragedy, with Scotty from Marketing, as he is ‘affectionately’ called, falling short. Her response to the tragic shooting in New Zealand was swift, concise and was leadership at its best. Something sadly lacking in PM Scott Morrison’s response.

His marketing background has not been of any use. You just can’t fake empathy.

Instead, Australians have found leadership in the fundraising efforts of sporting stars, singers, actors, many of whom are not even Australian (Pink, for example). And in everyday people who are doing extraordinary things in the face of adversity.

People who are willing to give without hesitation, whether it be much-needed funds (many of the volunteer fire-fighting services have had their funds slashed in recent years) or physical help (such as people in Canberra registering their houses to help those who have evacuated with temporary housing, or the man who drove tourists to safety in the middle of a lake in his boat whilst his house burned to the ground).

With a rising death toll from the fires (currently at 23 at the time of writing this) and hundreds of houses destroyed, Australians will be judging the leadership of their country harshly. And deservedly.

Lisa is an Australian living in Finland. She has a degree in Political History and English and has been a trainer, teacher, waiter, and retail worker. She writes poetry and satire, amongst other things. Stay in touch if you like.