Not the Bounce He Was Hoping For

Well, at least the polls aren’t any worse. So must go the chatter from Labor strategists in Canberra, as Anthony Albanese blows another wad of political capital chasing far-left nostrums. At least, unlike the Voice referendum, breaking a solemn promise on Stage 3 tax cuts hasn’t been a mortal blow to the government.

But it hasn’t helped, either.

Anthony Albanese has failed to deliver the political dividend Labor needed to begin the pre-election year.

Labor’s internal polling may tell a different story but that could prove to be overly optimistic.

Albanese clearly hoped that throwing around a wad of other peoples’ money would be the big winner that would reset his political fortunes, after the horrorshow of the second half of 2023. Instead, all he’s managed to do was hang on to the status quo.

After Albanese’s 2023 annus horribilis, status quo was never going to be enough in 2024.

The Prime Minister sought to set the agenda early and lead from the front. While this left the ­Coalition flat-footed and impotent, it hasn’t necessarily excited anyone outside of Canberra.

And while voters appear to be mollified by the shower of their own money from Labor, they’re not exactly returning to the Labor fold in droves. Labor’s primary vote has barely shifted, but Albanese’s personal rating has plummeted. Tellingly, his poll numbers have almost exactly mirrored Scott Morrison’s, leading up to the last election. On the other hand, while opposition leader Peter Dutton’s personal popularity remains low, in the preferred prime minister polling, he’s drastically narrowed the gap.

And while Albanese softened the blow of breaking a key election promise by playing Santa Claus, he’s going to be forever tarred by the brush of being just another shameless liar. Every time he tries to tout his honesty, parroting his “I’m a man of my word” lie, from now on it’ll be greeted with hoots of derision.

And when the cost of living crisis persists, the handouts will be forgotten, but the lie won’t. Especially if the Coalition are savvy enough to keep reminding everyone about it.

Mr Albanese will face accu­sations across the chamber from the Coalition that he lied to voters, having committed prior to the last election not to change or scrap stage three, which is due to come into effect on July 1 […]

There’s growing consensus within the Coalition that opposition MPs will doggedly attack Mr Albanese’s broken election promise and integrity over stage three, but ultimately not stand in the way of Labor’s changes passing through parliament.

The Australian

They’d be fools to actually try and block the changes. Never get between voters and a promise of free money. But while passing the tax cuts won’t affect the Coalition’s fortunes, unrelentingly reminding voters that the PM broke a solemn promise will very much affect his.

Cost-of-living pressures accumulated over Christmas and will only multiply over the next five months. Inflation may be easing but prices are still rising […]

Sure, no one is going to argue against a tax cut, but considering the scale of the depletion in living standards over the past 18 months, it hardly touches the side.

While most voters applaud the Prime Minister for trying it, they have baulked at rewarding him for doing something he promised not to do.

Voters accept the tax cuts. But they don’t like the government more for delivering them.

The Australian

Worse, Albanese has fired up the grifter left. The Greens and the Teals are clamouring for more taxpayer money to be showered on the leaner classes.

Although, to give them credit, the Greens actually do have a couple of good ideas. First is raising the tax-free threshold, second is including dental services under Medicare. Excluding dental from Medicare has never made sense.