Three-year terms keep us stuck in short-term thinking
As campaigning starts earlier each election, politics becomes overtly tactical, the public service enters zombie mode and business watches on frustrated as nothing gets done.
Several times over the summer, Anthony Albanese lamented that the federal parliament, unlike the states, does not have four-year terms.
Albanese, a long-time advocate of moving from three-year, floating terms, to four-year fixed terms, gave the issue a real push in February last year when the annoying speculation about the timing of the next election began, as it does at around the two-year mark of every term.
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Phillip Coorey is the political editor based in Canberra. He is a two-time winner of the Paul Lyneham award for press gallery excellence. Connect with Phillip on Facebook and Twitter. Email Phillip at pcoorey@afr.com
