Failure To Launch: Why Albanese's Government Is In Trouble

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By contrast, the Albanese government pledged to end the wage stagnation of the Liberal years and generally increase wages. A major emphasis was placed on improving the wages of low-paid women workers. In the process, Labor tackled issues that arose from Keating's flawed, neoliberal-influenced, enterprise bargaining model.

However, key business groups criticized Labor's resulting industrial relations measures, including multi-employer bargaining , increases in the minimum wage, and measures designed to address precarious and contract work. The Liberals have largely sided with business critiques.

Second, Labor's attempts to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together, via the Voice referendum, fell victim to a divisive, populist campaign by Dutton and others. Dutton depicted the Voice proposal not as arising from a major national meeting of Indigenous representatives but as being an elite“Canberra voice” that would give special rights to Indigenous Australians that were denied to others.

Furthermore, he argued that government was so focused on elite“woke” issues such as the Voice, it was neglecting Australian workers' cost-of-living crisis. Labor's strategy for countering right-wing populism was in disarray .

Albanese's response to the Voice loss was to go even more“small target” in ways that alienated progressive supporters. He abandoned key commitments ranging from the Indigenous Makarrata commission process of Treaty and Truth-telling, to protecting LGBTQI+ teachers and students from being sacked by religious schools. The debacle over including gender identity questions in the census was another result.

Third, international events and other parties' politicization of them have impeded the government's attempts at social cohesion. Australian political debate has become so polarised over developments in the Middle East that the Albanese government is accused of abandoning support for Israel by the Liberals and the Murdoch press, while simultaneously being accused of being“complicit in Israel's genocide” by the Greens and pro-Palestinian groups.

Narrative failure

As its original story of bringing Australians together has been increasingly undermined, the government has floundered when it comes to telling a clear narrative about itself. By contrast, Dutton's relentless, focused and simply expressed negativity has been cutting through.

Part of Labor's problem in countering Dutton is that he is targeting them for things that are often beyond their control.

For example, Dutton's claim the government has been too distracted by so-called“woke” issues to address the cost-of-living crisis has been particularly electorally damaging for Labor. So have his claims that Labor's renewable energy policies are fuelling inflation and pushing up the cost of living still further.

The government argues it has been providing extensive cost-of-living relief in the form of tax cuts, energy bill relief, rental assistance, wage increases, cheaper medicines and reduced childcare costs. However, the problem is that such government measures are being continually undercut by inflation, price increases, high interest rates, and the housing affordability and supply crisis.

Yet, the housing affordability and supply crisis has been aggravated by decades of poor housing policy that long predate the Albanese government. Furthermore, Labor's attempts to address it are currently being stymied by a combination of Coalition and Greens opposition, once again sandwiching Labor.

Meanwhile, the Coalition argues that government spending is exacerbating inflation and high interest rates. However, even the independent Reserve Bank, which sets cash interest rates and is also critical of government spending, has drawn attention to multiple international factors playing a role in inflation. Price increase gouging by some businesses to augment their profits has exacerbated the problem.

Furthermore, Treasurer Jim Chalmers argues that existing government spending levels have been essential to preventing Australia from sliding into recession while still enabling a budget surplus.