EYES blazing red but gaze resolute, Riverina MP Michael McCormack peered out across the press pack.
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Just three weeks into his first frontbench job, the minister for small business was already facing his political Waterloo.
On Wednesday morning, about 12 hours after most Australians finally switched off their computers in disgust, the minister responsible for the Census fronted the toughest press conference of his career.
To his credit, he didn’t duck and weave, despite journalists throwing haymakers from all directions.
He assured the nation their personal data hadn’t been compromised by the hacking scandal.
He moved to quell community concern the Census outage was the result of a malicious cyber attack, describing it instead as a “denial of service”.
It was a polished performance by Mr McCormack, but no amount of political soft-pedalling could explain such a colossal cock-up.
Australia’s first online Census has been a shambles – residents not receiving forms, a hotline sent into meltdown and millions of Australians unable to complete a survey that the government itself described as critical to planning our future.
Everyone predicted the website would crash, the government furiously denied it would, and then it did.
The whole debacle raises serious questions about the government’s ability to protect our private information and its ability to manage a future online voting regime.
But to suggest Mr McCormack should fall on his sword as a result is an hysterical over-reach.
Describing it as one of the greatest IT bungles in Australian governmental history, Labor leader Bill Shorten invoked Olympic imagery by also branding it “gold medal incompetence”.
A number of his colleagues demanded Mr McCormack step down.
Politics is a tough game and ministerial responsibility means sometimes ministers take a fall when they don’t deserve it.
But natural justice dictates this should not be one of those times.
Mr McCormack was parachuted into the role just three weeks ago in what increasingly looks like a hospital pass from the PM.
He should be judged on how he has managed the crisis, not on the crisis itself.
And by that measure, he has passed with flying colours.