Good article Graham and unfortunately for Australia very true.

There is not much to disagree with in this common sense analysis, except maybe for the last sentence.

The last sentence suggests: "time to head on over to www.alp.org.au to see what the future holds". I am not so sure.

You only have to look at the TV to realise that Albanese has been given a makeover: been put on a diet, new eyewear, and more smartly dressed. Behind the makeover you still have a politician who has enthusiastically supported every past proposal to tax the middle classes in order to fund big spending.

The same has happened to Labor policies. The proposed CGT imposts and restrictions on the use of franking credits, which were unpopular at the last election, have been publicly dropped. Much of this is mere window dressing.

My suggestion is that. rather than going to the ALP website to see what Labor is promising, instead look at their past record, and then clutch your wallet very securely.

A Labor win will confirm to the rest of the world what the rest of the world has long suspected about Australians ! Particularly people from countries with a sense of patriotism.

I'm inclined to vote independent or minor party and I think many others feel the same. I think Albo would sent the country broke by throwing billions at lost causes such as peace treaties with the aggrieved. I can't vote for Morrison after what I regard as smart alecky or devious responses to emissions reduction. I think he should give Assange more help.

Both your Libs and your Labs want high immigration whereas I think Australia has enough people. An independent heavy House of Reps could surely not be worse than what we have now. If there are no half decent independents in my electorate the green slip will go in the box without being marked.

On the surface, it might look as if Labor and Liberal have different policy settings. When you drill down, timid Albanese follows in Morrison's every step. In the case of Net Zero, Morrison follows Albanese, but both parties are in hock to fossil fuels and their "commitments" are meaningless.

On the crucial issue of mass immigration, Labor and Liberal are joined at the hip, and voters have zero choice. Hence my standard joke, that I expect the Morrison-Albanese Government to be returned with a comfortable majority.

Albanese is promising one thing that Morrison hasn't - more money for the ABC, gawd help us. Still, after the best part of a decade, when he has had the chance, Morrison has done nothing to pull the ABC into line, or get rid of it. Albanese is, in effect, bribing the ABC to go harder against the Coalition.

Morrison, rightly, got most of the credit for winning the last election. He must take all of the blame for losing the next one.

I am not looking forward to an Albanese Green Labor government, but Morrison - mainly all on his own - has made the horror inevitable. Maybe, with a new leader, the Coalition might be able to drag itself back to the centre right with a term or two in opposition.

Let's hope as many electorates as possible are offered the UAP, Liberal Democrats and One Nation to put 1, 2, and 3.

Morrison or Albanese, the people will remain as self-centred & probably become even more so than they're now.
The only difference is if Albo gets in the Public Service will become unaffordable & unemployment will go through the roof.

Just read this from a professional commentator;

"Mr Morrison must drop his conciliatory approach and unleash his inner mongrel. He has spent too much of the last two years pandering to the egos of Labor premiers when he should have been attacking them for their disastrous, heavy-handed, and ineffective management of the pandemic…".

Too late for that; and we have seen nothing to suggest that Morrison has an inner mongrel to release since he won the election he was not supposed to win. He has lost it.

Listen, every boy and his dog believed that Donald Trump had a snowflakes chance in hell of beating Hillary!

So, if Scomo pulls a rabbit out of the hat, like say, unveiling a new form of pollution and carbon free propulsion that gets us to zero emissions a decade from now and a decade ahead in very advanced transport and space exploration? He might suddenly surge ahead in the one poll that counts?

The pollsters have been wrong before and dramatically so! And may do so again if the P.M. captures the imagination with an announcement that will create huge export dollars, thousands of new jobs, that all together massively reduce debt!?
Alan B.

The main threat to Australia are ABC/SBS & the hangers-on who support Labor for obvious reasons.

Another reason for Howard's loss was the perception that his government was "mean and tricky", essentially bereft of ideas and running on "their record" but when struggling voters are constantly being told they never had it so good any remaining electoral gloss wears off quickly.

Morrison is being seen as someone more interested in his government, personal self-promotion and photo-opportunities and is a political reactionary - big on making announcements but seldom delivering on them.

He is politically at the mercy of the whims of the Nationals and relies on the votes of a couple of extremists and an accused rapist to pass legislation.

Albanese may be offering to restore funding to the ABC but Morrison has handed over at least $30million to Rupert Murdoch allegedly to "promote womens sport" but taxpayers have to pay to see any result, which is just adding insult to injury.

As well as a litany of scandals and bungles, the stench of corruption has also hung over this government since the election with frequent announcements of contracts handed out to donors and supporters without going to tender and is a sign of their arrogance.

Months before his electoral loss Howard admitted knowing he was "dead meat" but still spent almost all of his acclaimed final "surplus" on desperate electoral bribes leaving little left for the incoming government. It will be interesting to see what a desperate Morrison may yet do.

Howard's loss was the perception that his government was "mean and tricky"
rache,
ABC/SBS & unions perpetuate this perception to this day. Why people who call themselves Australian do that is anyone's guess !
It is my perception that these people had it too good & easy for too long & that causes a degradation of whatever little common sense there was to start with !

Literally doesn't matter if Left or Right, whatever party is in place just does the bidding of the central bank anyway.

Sorry to disillusion you but the "mean and tricky" tag came from an internal memo to John Howard written by then-Liberal Party President Shane Stone and leaked to journalist Laurie Oakes.

Nobody knows who leaked it but it must have come from Howard's office and at a time when there was growing animosity between him and Costello.

It also said the government was out of touch and not listening and that Liberal Ministers were being undermined by National Ministers - a lot like what is happening now.

I watched the press conference today in which some soul-less reporter read out damning text messages supposedly from Berejiklian's phone to & from a Coalition Minister. The PM was visibly taken aback, who wouldn't have been.
Instantly, the media went into overdrive & The Project was like a pack of hunting dogs. No journo asked Albanese to comment.
Would it be surprising if this turned out to be made up by opposition supporters ?

That "soulless journalist" was Channel Ten's Peter Van Onselen who trashed his own reputation by giving unqualified and partisan support to Christian Porter and more recently attacked Grace Tame for not smiling.

Berejiklian didn't deny the existence of the text but only "had no memory of it" - a subtle but significant difference.

The text was allegedly leaked from a senior cabinet member and I for one don't doubt it is genuine. This is the nature of politics where people plot and scheme against each other - something with which Morrison himself is quite familiar.

Chances are there are people already manoeuvering to be the next leader if the coming election is lost.

I think it's time to contract out the governing of Australia !