Everyone, it seems, is getting stuck into Anthony Albanese. Its not as though he has done much that is wrong. He hasn’t gone back on his promises, except, perhaps, in not delivering improved environmental legislation, and of course he failed to deliver on the Voice, though he tried.
The problem is, he hasn’t lived up to expectations about what he could do if he was elected.
On Wednesday the Sydney Morning Herald headlined an opinion piece by Ross Gittins, ‘Era of gutless government is here’. That’s one common strand of the critique of the Prime Minister and his government. Perhaps the mood was best captured by The Shovel, which included on the cover of its annual for 2024, ‘How to disappoint friends and underwhelm people, by Anthony Albanese’.
It not just the commentators. The Australian on Monday ran the results of its latest polling of what it called ‘character traits’. The Prime Minister’s approval went backwards (from previous polling) in eight of the nine categories including experience, being decisive and strong, having a vision for Australia, caring for people, being in touch with the people, being trustworthy.
Mind you, the shift in some categories was just a point or two and the report didn’t get round to mentioning that in some categories, the Prime Minister fared better than the Opposition Leader. For example, while the percentage of people who though Albanese was trustworthy fell from 49 to 46 six months ago, only 41 percent thought Dutton was trustworthy.
Also, 55 percent of those polled found the Prime Minister ‘likeable’ while only 40 percent thought that of the Leader of the Opposition. When it comes to voting, this trait really matters. In 2019, the fact that a majority of voters didn’t like the then Labor Leader, Bill Shorten, cost Labor votes, and contributed to its failure to win government.
What is really interesting about ‘Albo’s “weak” leadership’ as the Australian headlined its story, is that polling of voting intentions has changed very little in the past six months, and according to the Australian’s poll, although Labor’s primary vote is down to 30 percent, after preferences are distributed both Labor and the Coalition have 50 percent of the vote. Such a result might tip Labor out of majority government but it would stay in power with the support of the Greens and possibly one or two independents.
The polling reported for the Sydney Morning Herald is slightly different, giving the Coalition a slight lead over Labor, 51 to 49. But its polling also recorded solid wins for the Opposition over Labor on such issues as which party was likely to make them better off over the next three years, and whether, as Albanese is trying to tell the electorate ‘We have your back’.
There is no doubt that there is a serious level of dissatisfaction in the electorate with the performance of the Labor Government. Returning again to the Australian’s polling, only 40 percent of those polled were satisfied with Albanese’s performance while 55 percent were dissatisfied. Dutton had similar scores, 39 per cent satisfied and 51 per cent dissatisfied.
But where the two leaders were directly compared – Who do you think would make the better Prime Minister – Albanese held a solid lead, 45 to 38.
The election is still months away. The carping about Albanese’s leadership may have a galvanic effect on him and the government generally. But in the last week we have seen an important shift in the way politics is being played and presented. The government is not going to rest on its legislative achievements. It has already begun spruiking what it intends to do is it is re-elected – for example, in the field of subsidised childcare.
Last election, the Labor Party kept its policy promises to a minimum. More was expected of it once elected but that expectation went unrealised.
The next election won’t be about the consequent disappointment in the electorate. Voters will be asked to choose between what Labor and the Coalition are offering for the future. And particularly how those policies will impact on households battling inflation.
David Solomon is a former legal and political correspondent. He has degrees in Arts and Law and a Doctorate of Letters. He was Queensland Integrity Commissioner 2009-2014.
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