It’s been a bad week for the government’s messaging —and shocking for accountability

For a while there, people seemed to forget that the Prime Minister’s nickname, “Scotty from Marketing”, had been an ironic one, created by the satirical team at the Betoota Advocate.

On the back of stratospheric approval ratings flowing from success in dealing with COVID-19, some commentators would gush at the PM’s marketing and political genius, rather than recall that “Scotty from Marketing” was a reflection of the view that Scott Morrison was all political spin and no substance.

This week has not been a good one for either version of “Scotty from Marketing”. His refusal to front thousands of people outside Parliament House appeared cowardly — consider John Howard fronting pro-gun demonstrators for a comparison.

Reminding everyone,…