In treating migration as his golden leadership goose,Peter Dutton is making a classic political mistake,which is to identify your strength and then over-emphasise it.
The difficulty in politics is that at some point – and you never know when – the risk calculus flips. Tomorrow’s budget might tell us if we’re there yet.
As the nation confronts serial crises,the Albanese government needs to operate at two speeds:swift and targeted – then slow and sustained.
That the former prime minister was an active participant in our toxic political culture should not make us less sympathetic to his own difficulties.
Language can help us see things as if for the first time. When it fails,though,the problem does not really lie with language but with us.
Never more than in the past week have we seen national discussion on major issues marked by the mass silencing of everyone outside the extremes.
Sometimes in politics – like when you realise your opponent will always punch harder – you should exit the ring and try another approach.
The politics of inequality are shifting rapidly,and the major parties are desperate not to get caught on the wrong side of the debate.
Rather than offer a genuine solution on energy,the opposition leader is attempting to avoid two fights:one with Labor,the other within the Coalition.
There is a clear analogue to one of Albanese’s traits as PM:his careful attention to planning and sequencing,his belief that a large part of political strategy is doing things in the right order.
The focus of both major parties for the Dunkley byelection was fairly trivial. Let’s hope they can do better for the looming federal election.