Politics

There is nothing that delights Murdoch more than removing Labor leaders – premiers and prime ministers – or destabilising them. There are two reasons for this: first, Murdoch is personally addicted to power; second, he always wants governments to do his policy and financial bidding.

In December 2018, 34 former judges wrote a letter to the prime minister expressing their support for the establishment of a national integrity commission with the power to hold public hearings. Apparently, it was not Scott Morrison’s ‘job’ to take advice from those who are experts in what they do.

This week, the need for the new Albanese government to fix the mess it has inherited became personal for millions of Australians at the mercy of a failed energy market. The threat of blackouts and of freezing in their homes in the middle of one of the worst winter cold snaps for years brought with it an unexpected urgency.

There is something almost comical about the Liberals and Nationals throwing the forlorn spectre of nuclear power back into national energy debates, right after their loss in the 2022 ‘climate election’.

Can you imagine our governments encouraging our food producers to export all their product even if it meant Australians would go hungry? We have done this with gas, which is so important for household heating and cooking and as an input for many industries.

Visual stunts – or picture opportunities, as they are called in the trade – are nothing new in contemporary politics. On Tuesday, Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo provided the visual metaphor of a bike ride, which neatly summed up the progress of the fledgling Anthony Albanese prime ministership: a shaky campaign but a much more assured and proactive performance now he is in the job.

It’s like this. I speak to a friend who went through the hard times of Nauru. He is a refugee. For several years he has been in Australia. He can work but he has few other rights. He does not have a permanent visa. He does not know what will happen to him next.

In many ways, the economy is a poisoned chalice for the incoming Labor government. So much for the Coalition’s boast of being ‘better economic managers’ – perhaps they were just better economic manipulators.

Albanese brings to the job the enormous authority of leading the party out of the wilderness after almost a decade. Over the past three years there were plenty of wellwishers but also plenty of doubters. Albanese’s ‘come from behind, kicking with the wind in the fourth quarter’ strategy was a worry.

Although the Labor Party has now secured the required majority to govern, Anthony Albanese is far from having won the electorate’s hearts and minds. This will take time. Moral injury does not go away with a change of leader; this kind of injury must be addressed by truth-telling, justice and reconciliation.