Comment

It has been a widely held perception that politicians can play fast and loose with the truth. As with those who sell used cars, they manipulate data and events to suit what they think will be to their short-term political advantage. Donald Trump elevated this to an art form, claiming those who disagreed with him or questioned him on an issue were spreading what he called ‘fake news’.

Anthony Albanese is convinced the tide is going out on the Morrison government. Scott Morrison senses it too, but, like King Canute, he is desperately trying to prove he’s still in control. The embattled prime minister is being swamped by almost unprecedented disunity and defiance of his authority within his ruling Coalition.

Already, it has been called the ‘Great Resignation’. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, people are quitting their jobs en masse. Bartenders, sales assistants, healthcare workers, teachers and tech developers are calling it quits – a record 4.3 million American workers in August alone. It is unclear whether Australia will have the same kind of worker revolt, but some predict we may see a similar trend in early 2022.

Is Scott Morrison’s latest slogan – ‘can-do capitalism’ – simply an overarching abrogation of his responsibility to provide good government in our national interest?

Former Australian tennis great John Alexander doesn’t like the way the game of politics is being played. Winning is everything and the biggest losers are Australians. Good policy and a genuine bipartisan search for what is best for the nation, in his opinion, comes a poor last.

Under the current New South Wales law, a person commits sexual assault if they know the other person is not consenting, if they are ‘reckless’ as to whether the other person consented, or if there are no reasonable grounds for believing there was consent. According to the court, my frozen body was all the consent that was needed.

It has been demonstrated that incumbent state governments have been advantaged in their elections, but this sentiment is unlikely to be translated as support for the Coalition federally.

Morrison, like Howard, has made no secret of his determination to turn the election into a referendum on who people can most trust to run the economy, secure in the knowledge that come next May the country should be humming along.

When a citizen criticising an elected official can be sued by that official and potentially bankrupted by an adverse finding, the effects on democracy are profound.

When will Scott Morrison and the Liberal National Party realise that three-word slogans are not a policy; indeed, they may not even be an effective way to deliver the desired marketing message? In the past two elections we were bombarded with ‘Jobs and growth’. Absent any detail, we were left asking, Which growth? In what sectors? On what time line? The latest slogan covering the absence of policy detail is ‘Technology not taxes’.