PM blanks out year of Liberal party division with upbeat new year’s message as Labor leader declares 2018 the year Australians were ‘let down by politics’

Scott Morrison has embraced the “new year, new me” mantra, with a promise to grab 2019 by “the scruff of its neck and make it a winner for all of us”, in a message to the nation which treats 2018 as if it didn’t happen.

But his opposition counterpart wants to ensure Australia remembers every misstep the government made in the year before, using his own message to declare 2018 the year “Australians had every right to feel let down by politics … that too many of their elected representatives were only in it for themselves”.

Morrison waved goodbye to 2018 – the year he became prime minister in a leadership spill the Liberal party is still attempting to explain – by wholeheartedly embracing 2019, which he says “will be a big year of choice for Australia”.

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Sex scandals, internal party division, bad polls, lost MPs, bullying allegations and losing a blue-ribbon seat to an independent, plunging the government into minority status, received not even a nod, with Morrison instead looking to the future.

Morrison’s Australia has also undergone a new year’s transformation, with the prime minister telling voters in his video message “we aren’t just a country where ‘if you have a go, you get a go’, that’s true, it’s a country where differences are respected – and indeed celebrated”.

“We must always protect this,” the prime minister said. “It’s key to who we are.”

2018 may have been left in the cold, but his favourite buzzwords “strong economy” received six mentions, while Morrison pledged to keep Australians safe through border protection policies (“you don’t change what’s working”).

Keeping Australians “together, by focusing on the values and beliefs and the freedoms that make this the fairest place on Earth” also made the resolutions list.

“It’s an important year for Australia,” he said.

“But first, let’s savour the new year, let’s enjoy the time with our family and friends, enjoy the beach, enjoy the cricket. Whatever you do over the summer break, enjoy it.

“We’re going to be working hard for you every single day and as we go to this year’s election, you will see there will be a clear choice to protect what you have and to ensure that you can seize the opportunities [that] you want for you and your family and we’ll be right there to back you in.”

But while 2018 is the year Morrison hopes you forget, Bill Shorten wants you to remember it.

“Traditionally, the beginning of a new year is a time to reflect, take stock and resolve to improve,” Shorten said in his message.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison prepare to face off in the 2019 election. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

“In 2018, Australians had every right to feel let down by politics, every right to feel that too many of their elected representatives were only in it for themselves.

“In 2019, all of us who have the remarkable privilege to serve in the federal parliament have a responsibility to do better, to rebuild faith in our democracy by demonstrating that politics can still make a difference to the daily lives of our fellow Australians.

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“This isn’t merely a matter of lifting the standard of our democracy, it’s about putting forward ideas and solutions to the challenges facing our people and our nation.

“Because, simply put, our whole country is a better, smarter, more prosperous place, when all our citizens have the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

“In this new year, let us work to ensure the old, quintessentially Australian promise of a fair go is extended to people of all ages, all faiths, all backgrounds and in every part of the country we love.”

Morrison used his address to once again state the budget would be handed down on 2 April, which would place the election on either 11 May or 18 May. An early election in March remains a possibility, however it is not an option Morrison wants to deploy, unless absolutely forced to.