Comment

Scathing independent assessments of the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation (EPBC) Act, amid mounting evidence of biodiversity loss and habitat destruction, have presented the Albanese government with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to strengthen Australia’s environmental framework.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has cleverly set the framework for the contest at the next election with his recent speech outlining his vision for this country as a low-carbon economy.

The recent Tasmanian election reinforces the postwar trend of a sustained drift away from the major parties. Voters are increasingly preferring to trust independents and minor parties, mostly because of their authenticity and closer association with their communities and their views on key issues.

The Albanese government goes into the long break before parliament resumes for the May budget with its reputation tarnished after an attempted ambush that misfired. No doubt they had in mind payback for the opposition, which made hay accusing the government of being unprepared and incompetent in its response to the High Court’s striking down of indefinite detention late last year.

Our world is teetering on the brink of catastrophe, with close to 13,000 nuclear weapons in the arsenals of nine countries. The risk of their use – whether by accident or design – is as high as ever. We are facing the most precarious geopolitical crisis since the height of the Cold War. The threat of nuclear annihilation is – once again – a very real possibility.

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?

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.