Scott Morrison still possesses an incredible ability to divide and destroy the Australian polity.
His capacity to upset ordinary people - erode their hopes and sour trust in the institutions they are forced to rely on - was overwhelming during Q+A on Thursday.
Technically I was a panel member - but for me, the audience is always the real panel and it was dismaying to observe their bewilderment, cynicism and anguish on the topic of the former prime minister.
I have personally been so twisted up about him since his dreadful visit as prime minister to Lismore after the floods that I hadn't fully comprehended his wider toxic impact.
That is, until Thursday - listening to Penrith residents ask simple, legitimate questions, and watching their reactions while the camera was fixed on panellists who could only offer solidarity in lieu of answers. Because there are no acceptable answers. Morrison is relentlessly breaking the heart of Australian faith in democracy. And he seems to find that funny.
I do not believe anyone can truthfully say they "know" Morrison. I can say I have "experienced" Scott for 22 years. I have thought about him, tried to work with him and desperately wanted to understand him as a member of his Liberal "team".
What a quixotic quest that turned out to be. Initially my concern was for the impact his scheming and power games were having on the Liberal party. When as state director he helped Alex Hawke take over scores of strategic Liberal branches it changed the culture of our organisation.
The scheming escalated to the point of thwarting his own party's efforts to select candidates for the federal election. It made no sense. On 7.30 Leigh Sales asked "why?" and we were given the ludicrous reply: "I did it to help women."
Understandably, the ordinary citizen may not care how the NSW Liberal party has been so ruthlessly used and rendered a smoking ruin. But Morrison and his government's power games have had direct impacts on people's lives.
I felt that intensely during the Northern Rivers floods. Under his government, victims in a Nationals electorate received cash payments denied to victims in a Labor electorate. The pain inflicted was far more than financial. This nasty political parry crushed a desperate community that needed solidarity and compassionate leadership. Instead, they were made to feel like worthless political pawns.
This was a betrayal of a government's duty to serve every citizen of this country.
We don't fully understand his secret power grab during and after the pandemic lockdowns. It is the discovery that this person crossed the boundaries in ways never previously imagined; the most powerful man in the land exploited a health crisis to extract yet more personal power.
Even though it is over now, because he has been removed from office, the revelation is shocking.
For the Albanese government, the news this week is politically advantageous. I would advise great care in how to deal with the temptation to ridicule, mock and politically cash in. Realise this is not ordinary rough and tumble politics. The reputations of parliamentary democracy and its supposed safeguard - the governor general - have sustained enormous damage.
As the public absorbs the true character of the former prime minister, the incredible secrecy in relation to his own subordinate colleagues, there is a need for reassurance our freedoms are still intact and we can trust our government. So how Labor behaves will tell us whether or not we are still in the weeds or able to move on.
I am not sure what to advise the Liberals - I am no longer a member of parliament. I do know good people are still in there trying. But it is not easy erasing the stain of electing Morrison prime minister when there was a far better alternative in Julie Bishop.
We had a lot of experience in terms of Morrison but for reasons that appear to relate to personal ambition, deals were done, doubts about Morrison's character were brushed aside and here we are. Reaping what was sown.
What's even worse is that he is still in Liberal ranks, with admirers defending him. And he is just laughing. So good luck with that.
