Scott Morrison may not realise it, but he has just been thrown a lifeline by the High Court that could restore his tarnished reputation. He should jump at it. It was a shame and probably unfair, that so soon after his great victory in the election, he should have been blamed for the bushfires and then denigrated by a lot of hillbillies looking for a scapegoat. It was equally unfair that, in the so-called sports rorts affair, he was denounced for defending the proper role of ministers being answerable to the people through the parliament. And over the last few days, he seems to have been blamed for not personally defeating the coronavirus. All of that is sad and unfair; but the bottom line is that Morrison has lost his mojo. Miracle Man has become Misery Man. And the real problem is that, in politics, the mojo takes only a minute to lose, but to regain it can take years, if ever.

So, if the government has any sense, it will be racking its brains about how to get Morrison back to the position he was in just after the election, when he was seen as strong and resolute and someone worth following and voting for because of that very aura of conviction around him. But so far, the government has shown no signs of success and fewer signs that it even knows what to do. As a default position, it has done nothing.

But suddenly, from nowhere, the High Court has given Morrison and his team a real chance to show he is back in control, that he can still make decisions that are both right and popular and that he can make them quickly and ruthlessly. The Court, in what is known as Love’s Case has handed down a decision that is its most bizarre judgment ever promulgated and the most extreme example of judicial activism that the country has seen. It has decided that there are now three classes of people in Australia, citizens, aliens and aboriginals, the last of the three groups having superior rights over everyone else. It also means that this third class will be determined by one criterion only and that is race and that they will determine it for themselves. In practical terms, what it means is that the commonwealth cannot keep criminal aliens out of the country if they claim to be aboriginals and ‘identify’ as such. Why? Because, according to the High Court, aboriginals are now a special class.

Moreover, the language used by the court in the majority judgements shows how the judicial process is now a weapon to be used by unelected social reformers. Every cliché in the book is given another run in Love’s case. The court has discovered ‘a sovereign power other than Australia’. ‘The Court… does not defer to Parliament’s opinion’ to determine the scope of a constitutional concept like ‘aliens’. So much for our parliament! Terms like ‘First Nations’, ‘First Peoples’, and ‘the Stolen Generations’, all get a run here that would look good in an undergraduate essay.

It is true that this racist intrusion into our law was decided by the smallest of margins, three votes to four. It is also true that the sensible judges who made up the minority articulated a strong defence of the non-racial basis of our constitution and rejected the idea that judges should be making social and political decisions in the course of their judgments. But as things presently stand, the majority decision is now the law. What it means is that, henceforth, decisions on who is entitled to come into this country will be made by reference only to race. That is a monumental change in what makes us Australians and how we govern the country.

This monumental change should not be allowed to stand. And that is the opportunity for Morrison to do the right thing for national identity and at the same time take a popular position that will strengthen his standing and restore him to the strength he was in before his post- election decline. Bushfires, sports rorts and viruses will quickly fade away to nothing beside a campaign to stop this appalling decision of the High Court remaining the law of the land. It can be the vehicle for the great Morrison-led recovery.

Morrison must instantly give notice of a law to reverse the High Court decision and then campaign to put all Australians on a footing of equality before the law, with no special categories based on race. It should be made a double dissolution law and taken to a referendum if necessary. No patriot and no rational person could oppose such a law. If the ALP oppose it, so much the better, as it would be branded as a party that puts race before nation.

Taking this action will set off an immediate reaction from the luvvies and the guilt-ridden rich who have elevated aboriginals to a god-like status and want to give them extraordinary powers, above and beyond the rights of all other Australians. But that is the point, for an hysterical response will itself strengthen Morrison. Donald Trump has shown that strident criticism unifies his base and attracts great swathes of new supporters. So it will be with Morrison. But only if he acts.

At the same time, he must stop the nonsense of a Voice to parliament which will enshrine the two electoral roll system into Australia if it is not stopped: one roll for everyone, who will have one vote, and another roll for aboriginals, who will have two votes, an indefensible piece of racism that we opposed so strongly in Rhodesia and South Africa. It is hard to believe that a Coalition government is now spending money on ‘designing’ the voice that will institutionalise racism. Morrison can prevent this and restore his position at the same time. All that is necessary is for him to start the campaign.