Scott Morrison wants to be Australia's Prime Marketer ? but voters aren't buying his woeful climate rebrand | Peter Lewis - The Guardian Australia

Australia’s Prime Marketer has returned from the international launch of this new The Australian Way brand and, much like his previous forays on to the world stage, it has been a polarising affair.

In a brazen reimagining of his “Cool Coal” range, the PM has raised the middle finger to a gathering meant to be about global cooperation by sending the clear message there is no “us” in Team Australia’s climate approach, only “me”.

The Australian Way recycles old commitments into a new shiny brochure of vendor-generated graphs and talking points while refusing to set 2030 climate reduction targets, undermining tougher restrictions on coal and efforts to reduce methane emissions.

The Australian Way is to do the bare minimum that one can get away with, take credit for the work of others and declare “she’ll be right”. It is to kick wicked problems down the road, because the next generation needs to have something to worry about too.

Early indications are that the Australian Way is struggling to cut through to its key segment, Coalition voters trapped between the denial of its rural outposts and the desire for even a modicum of meaningful action from its city base.

You can see how the rebrand was designed to shift the PM’s market position. From being caught in a binary of action/inaction, the Australian Way is positioned at the centre of a spectrum where the PM can attack opponents on the left as economy wreckers while placating those who want an end to inaction.

But a hill constructed on just 25% of the electorate is not one that is large enough to fight from, let alone die on; and when only just over a third of Coalition voters are on the team, with similar numbers wanting to see something more ambitious, it begins – exposed on all fronts.