The new dawn that appeared to break last month when the Albanese government decided to modify the stage 3 tax cuts turns out to have been false. Following a long period of drift during which it had allowed public confidence in its performance to crumble, the government seemed to be back in control of the political agenda, outflanking the Coalition.
Best wishes to the PM and his fiancee Jodie Haydon. But with the other stuff, given how much political trouble he and his government are in, I don’t get it. He secured the prime ministership as Everyman Albo, who understood the everyday concerns of Australians. The public stopped buying that last year as he burned through the government’s political capital and his own in the lead-up to the failed referendum on the Indigenous Voice to parliament.
The government isn’t sitting idle. It’s negotiated successfully with the automotive industry over new vehicle emissions standards. And it’s cracking down on immigration loopholes and trying – and failing for the next few months at least – to introduce new deportation laws. The difficulties with getting the measures through the parliament are standard-issue problems for any administration, not a sign of chaos. And Albanese has been working on shoring up some marginal seats.