So watch now young grasshoppers, watch as the dark art of spin starts to get very dark indeed.

This is where the PM's inner crew huddle late at night, talking tactics & politics, throwing around various scenarios trying to save the government's reputation

And Scott Morrison's
> https://twitter.com/vanOnselenP/status/1362163269209788420

When I say dark, there is no level of muck they won't reach if they think the heat is getting close to Morrison.

We already have the Scott Morrison WarScouts out spreading rumours.

The PM's own people are telling journalists that #BrittanyHiggin's boyfriend is a malcontent.

The idea Scott Morrison's team are seeding with the public is this:

Ms Higgins is being manipulated.

She is a puppet for a vindictive man, her partner has put her up to it because he is bitter about his past employers (or just insert issue X).

And it will get uglier.

It will get uglier as Morrison's team work in the murky shadows away from the glare of the public, writing out play by plays, calling in favours, workshopping tested narratives from the Book of Spin.

Remember, we're only 4 days out from these horrific allegations being aired.

>

4 days out, and already we have:

- JenAndTheGirls trotted out as the protective shield

- the unedifying sight of Michaelia Cash attempting tears in federal parliament

- the Daily Telegraph pumping out Morrison govt leaks in an appalling manipulation of "suicide" concerns

- gaslighting by some trusted Morrison journos. Ms Higgins is "confused" in her recollections of speaking to Morrison's chief staffer (painting her as an emotionally fragile female)

- gaslighting by Scott Morrison himself, "situation she found herself in"

What happens now with the Morrison govt's grubby playbook will very much depend on the public outcry over this.

They'll harvest discussions from facebook & news site comments, etc, aggregating them & anaylsing the public mood.

Where is public sentiment on this? What card next?

Ministers will be briefed. Talking points will be strict. Scenarios (like Ms Cash's tears) will be brainstormed.

And down low, in the even murkier depths, somebody will be looking into #BrittanyHiggin's background, searching for clues that can paint her in another light.

What they're looking for now is some way of wafting out a story around the edges that, although Ms Higgins is indeed a distressed person and a victim oh yes of course, that she must also have an agenda.

The PM's crew backgrounding on her boyfriend prove that's already happening.

But what they won't see as they WhatsApp each other and video-conf on their secure connections and huddle in corners in the PMO, what they won't see is that what they're really tossing around up in the air here - isn't Scott Morrison's image.

It's an innocent young woman's life.

https://twitter.com/vanOnselenP/status/1362210364209864707