The poor priorities and inconsistencies of Anthony Albanese’s government are almost summed up in the political maneuvering taking place as we enter the last parliamentary session before the summer holidays.
They are tangible evidence of why the Labor Party is failing in the polls in just its first term in power.
On the one hand, the Labor Party spent months telling us that its misinformation bill was a vital reform aimed at eradicating… you guessed it, misinformation in public discourse.
However, Labor abandoned the bill once a united front lined up against it: the Coalition, the Greens, a plethora of MPs representing the right and the left.
But he didn’t simply walk away from what he once claimed was so important here and now.
He has vowed not to pursue the changes even after the election – assuming he is victorious – and Special Minister of State Don Farrell said: “That’s the end of it.”
I guess what was proposed couldn’t have been so important after all.
In truth, the proposed laws were highly subjective, poorly drafted, lacked consultation and transparency in their development, infringed on freedom of expression and even if one liked the idea of silencing opinion, they did not go far enough to satisfy their supporters.
So they have been thrown into the policy dustbin, as they should be.
Anthony Albanese’s government spent months telling us that its misinformation bill was a vital reform aimed at rooting out misinformation. He has now vowed not to implement changes even after the election, assuming he emerges victorious. I guess it shouldn’t be so important after all.
Submissions for public comments on the misinformation bill closed in September.
However, they have never been uploaded or made public. I suspect the government wanted to hide them from view because they were so vitriolic.
It is so ironic that when the Labor Party walked away from the disinformation bill, its political spin to justify it was riddled with falsehoods.
They claimed, for example, that the Coalition and the Greens were in cahoots, even though their opposition to the bill was for diametrically opposed reasons.
The Greens said the bill did not do enough to stop misinformation, while the Coalition said it was an attack on free speech.
The government’s approach to its planned social media laws banning under-16s from accessing platforms such as TiKTok and Reddit is equally murky.
The government opened public comments on the bill for only one day. This is not how a good government takes consultations seriously.
Labor will be able to speed up parliament’s passage of youth social media bans because the Coalition came up with the idea before the government and plans to support the changes.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is pushing her bill to ban under-16s from accessing social media. The government is also using underhanded tactics to enforce it.
He will probably do the same when it comes to reforms to electoral donations, which have not even been sent to a parliamentary committee for public consultation and feedback. That’s as far as good political process goes on that front.
Meanwhile, there will be no legislation to curb online gambling or gambling advertisements, as previously promised.
Because? Probably because the Labor Party does not want to upset the big media organizations that enjoy revenue streams from its advertising.
So what excuse have they used to justify inaction and broken promise?
“This is very difficult and complex work that simply cannot be completed in the remaining week of Parliament this year,” according to Minister Murray Watt.
However, so are changes in social media use and laws designed to curb misinformation. As are adjustments to political donations. However, the Labor Party found ways to speed up these law-making processes when it suited them.
This inconsistency is equally evident when listening to Labor’s rhetoric about concern for young Australians as it moves towards a social media ban.
But the sound of crickets is all you hear when you ask the same politicians why they don’t act to curb online access to violent and graphic minor pornography.
All of the above highlights the failures of this government in policy formulation.
It is proof positive that this is a bad government unworthy of re-election. Which does not mean that he will not win re-election.
No first-term federal government has lost a reelection bid since 1931, so history favors Albo’s chances of winning a second term as prime minister.
While social policy scripts like those mentioned above dominate the latest session, voters could be forgiven for wondering why Labor’s priorities are focused in that direction and not the economy.
On Wednesday we will receive the updated monthly CPI figures. We already know that inflation is higher than in other Western nations and there are no guarantees that interest rates will fall in the first half of next year. This despite anemic economic growth and falling real living standards.
You might think the Labor Party wanted the optics of its final week of sessions to revolve solely around the economy and its plans to address the cost-of-living concerns that are hurting so many Australians.
However, that’s not the focus at all, probably because Labor can’t say anything too positive on that front because its fiscal policy settings (spending too much) are clashing with the RBA’s monetary policy advice.