Everyone’s talking about Scott Morrison’s struggles with anxiety as prime minister. He’s been praised, rightly, for breaking that taboo. But if we still feel awkward, it’s because he broke another: Morrison’s book makes his private faith very, very public, and we don’t know what to do with it.
Australians cringe about faith. “God bless America” might be mandatory American political speak but historian Manning Clark nailed Australians’ religious instincts as “a shy hope in the heart”.
Scott Morrison at his Horizon Church during the 2019 election campaign.Credit: AAP
Well, shy Morrison’s book ain’t. The theme of Plans For Your Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony of God’s Faithfulness is God’s constant presence to Morrison, who says he “often felt like an alien in the place where I believe God has called me to serve” – an alien line in the average Australian political memoir.
But the faith element isn’t surprising. Australia’s first Pentecostal prime minister now seeks an American audience. The foreword is written by former US vice president and fellow Christian Mike Pence. American spelling and explanations of Australiana, from Akubra hats to Christmas crackers, appear throughout.
Obvious high points of Morrison’s prime ministership are covered, such as the “miracle” election win of 2019 and the crafting of........