While it is natural that the highly critical assessments of Morrison's character are played up in an election context, the text messages are yet another insight into the toxic environment of Australian politics. Our Prime Minister has been described by those close to him as a horrible, shifty person.

Morrison's own response was predictably clever, following the well-trodden path he followed in responding to previous criticisms of him by female former colleagues like Julia Banks, who left the party. He turned the criticism back on the mental state of his critics, rather than addressing the criticisms.

Speaking at the i4Give Day memorial service in Sydney, he argued that his faith dictated that he should forgive his critics just as the grieving family had forgiven the dangerous driver who had killed their children.

Morrison emphasised human frailty as the explanation, and ended by claiming that politics was a "brutal business". Politicians were "no different to anyone else. And people say things, and people feel things, people get angry, people get bitter. Of course they do. That's all of us. And who am I to be judging someone else?"

Morrison is saying that not only is politics a brutal business, but so is everyday life. Both these claims, a slur not just on politicians but on all of us, need to be challenged.

To be brutal is to be savagely violent. That portrayal of politics, as an excuse for individual transgressions, should be challenged. Australians don't want our politicians to be savagely violent towards one another, just as we don't want toxic attitudes towards women in Parliament House. This portrayal of the parliamentary arena, the political workplace, should not be allowed to stand.

The lack of trust which pervades public attitudes towards politics is reinforced when the Prime Minister uses this type of escape route to deflect personal criticism. He tried it before when he claimed that the criticism of him as a liar by French President Alexander Macron was actually a slur on the Australian people.

Morrison might well have defended himself by directly claiming that Labor was no better. That claim would have validity. We should not forget the awful things Labor ministers were saying publicly about Kevin Rudd during the Rudd-Gillard leadership debacle a decade ago. But Morrison is aware of the danger of taking that route, as it did not go down well with the Australian people either. It also led to Labor falling apart and losing office.

What is politics if it is not brutal? Politics is a competitive struggle. Any business involving individuals and parties seeking office, followed by winning votes in parliament, must be. There are winners and losers. Australian politics has long been regarded as especially adversarial.

We also know that the adversaries are not all, or even mainly, to be found on the other side of politics. There is the old story told by the experienced politician to the newcomer that while the opposition were over the other side, the enemy was within. Factional politics exacerbates competition within parties and is a major contributor to the toxic culture of politics.

We know, too, that character assassination is par for the course in electoral politics. Morrison is already subject to negative assessments of his character. Not all of this comes from his political opponents. The biographies of Morrison are full of it. That is the power of the text messages. They resonate with already widespread views.

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The Liberals in the election campaign will try to spread similar, though not identical, assessments of Anthony Albanese. It worked against Bill Shorten in the 2019 election campaign.

Nevertheless, the explanation that these text messages are just business as usual in politics (and in daily life) should not be allowed to stand. The "human frailty" excuse will not do. Politics and life then just become a race to the bottom, in which any sort of brutality is excused.

We should encourage political behaviour which aims high, rather than low, and which aims to inspire higher standards not just in politicians but in the wider community. Otherwise, if it is excusable for politicians to behave in this way and to talk this way about one another, then it is excusable in schools, workplaces and on the internet.

By way of comparison, the current Winter Olympics in Beijing is exemplifying a heady mix of steely competition and genuine camaraderie among contestants. The competitors aim to be the best. Only a few end up being winners. Huge disappointment for the losers happens every time there is a competition, but they try to rise above it.

We should hold politics to the highest standards. The idea that the failings of the Prime Minister and his critics are just human nature is unacceptable. That is shifting the blame.

Life should not be brutal, and the community doesn't want politics to be brutal either. We accept reasonable competitiveness, but not savage combat or a win-at-all-costs mentality. The contest should be about ideas, policies and visions for the common good.

Morrison's reputation has been hurt by these text messages, but by how much remains to be seen. What is not in doubt is that trust in our politicians has once again been damaged.