Federal election 22: Why both Liberals or Labor are too scared to make bold, big-ticket promises

Go big or go home? There’s a key promise missing this election, experts say, because both parties are too scared. See what they’ve pledged instead.

Voters have been left with an “issue-lite, policy-lite” campaign as the size of Australia’s debt and a shift to presidential-style elections caused neither major party to make bold, big-ticket cash splashes, experts have said.

There are just days to go until the official polling day, with neither the Coalition nor Labor yet making visionary announcements equivalent to the construction of Snowy Hydro or the NBN.

Experts had speculated Prime Minister Scott Morrison would reveal a big-ticket item at the Coalition’s campaign launch on Sunday, but the new policies were largely geared toward first home buyers and pensioners with modest impact to the budget.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese on the campaign trail in Victoria during the federal election. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese in recent days announced a $970m program to “strengthen” Medicare, with the money to be spread out over four years.

Queensland University of Technology political expert Professor John Mickel said size of the government’s debt and deficit meant major parties “can’t and won’t” make bold big-ticket commitments.

“You’ve got two issues, the huge deficit and debt, and it is massive, and … how (the spending) adds to the underlying inflationary impact,” he said,

“There is an underlying fear within the community that there is a trillion-dollar debt, and someone needs to fix that.

“If you wanted to be bold, you would come up with a debt-reduction program.”

Griffith University politics expert Dr Paul Williams said the government also had the upper hand of being able to use the budget, which included $5.4bn to build the mega Hells Gates Dam project in North Queensland.

He said policies throughout the campaign had involved “dribs and drabs” of what each side planned but there was “no Snowy Hydro or NBN equivalent”.

Dr Williams said this was because the major debt and deficit opened up both sides – should they spend big – to accusations of being fiscally imprudent.

“The Liberal Party has (also) really padded itself into a corner and got into these dire straits of its own volition, because since 2019 so much political capital has been put in the leadership basket,” he said.

“Because of the pandemic or something else, the Morrison government didn’t grow policy shoulders.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visits an oil refinery in Victoria, to announce a $125 million. Picture: Jason Edwards

On the Labor side Dr Williams theorised the party was being “deliberately small-target” though they would “love to have a broader policy target”.

“Mr Albanese said he wanted the lowest-paid workers to get a pay rise and look how much mileage Morrison got out of that,” he said.

Mr Albanese himself has pointed to Australia’s $1 trillion debt, saying Labor would only make “clear commitments that we are absolutely certain can be delivered”.

But the campaign cash splash has a second stream – small pots of funding for local projects such as shade cloths, swimming pools and sporting facilities in marginal must win electorates.

Prof Mickel said small on-the-ground campaign funding commitments were about “appealing to localism” and showing that “not everything is based out of Canberra”.

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