Comment

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has often spoken in terms of football analogies when referring to his electoral opportunities, strategies and chances. Recently his focus has been on ‘coming home in the second half with a strong wind at his back’.

For Labor to build real political momentum in an incredibly tough year, the prime minister needs to be with his treasurer the way Bob Hawke was with the younger Paul Keating in the 1980s.

Politicians have become so accustomed to this soft corruption that they genuinely think it is what election campaigns are about – a competition of promises for car parks, sporting fields and a new microwave for the senior citizens’ club.

The problem with this country is that Peter Dutton could credibly become its prime minister. If the myth of American politics is that anyone can be president, the sad truth of Australia is that no one is truly unelectable.

Negativity and denial are not election-winning policies or strategies. Nor is continuing to drag the Coalition further and further to the right of the political spectrum.

So how have we got to this and how is Albanese going to respond? … There are big lessons from this year that, unless learnt, bode very poorly for the survival of the government. Albanese and his closest confidants know it.

If we did not take the lessons from the past in 2023, if we cannot practise what we preach, no one’s god and no one’s science can help us in 2024. How can we save the planet if we cannot save ourselves?

The bottom line is simple: the longer Australia takes to reduce emissions through policies such as fuel efficiency standards, the greater the costs will be.

Perhaps Australia’s greatest postwar achievement has been the creation of a functional and tolerant multicultural, multiethnic and multi-religious society that has become the envy of the world. However, it is very important to recognise that despite this success, it remains very much a work in progress.

For a prime minister on leave, Anthony Albanese had a busy week. It’s a sure sign of knowing you can take nothing for granted in politics, especially when everyone keeps telling you to lift your game.