OPINION: Barnaby is on the loose. Has the LNP given up?

OPINION: 'I just sit here like a lot of us and bang my forehead on my desk in exasperation'

ON THE LOOSE: Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Rowan Schindler

SHOULD we issue a general alert?

Someone's been careless and left the back paddock gate open. Barnaby's on the loose.

I just sit here like a lot of us and bang my forehead on my desk in exasperation.

Two months or so out from the federal election and instead of manning the pumps of the Coalition's sinking ship, not only has it turned into an every man for himself scenario but it appears that the Nats are actually ramming more holes in the hull.

At this late stage and with the Government getting its 50th consecutive bad opinion poll, further dissension in the ranks is the last thing the Government needs. It's like they've given up.

The scare campaign in the wake of the Medevac Bill passing did not resonate as they had hoped. The Coalition's image as the best economic managers between the two major sides was dented by the surprising news that technically, the country was in a per capita recession last quarter.

And ScoMo does not seem to have any effective counter to Shorten's platform on wage growth.

The undisciplined and frankly unhelpful commentary from some National MPs this week further dented the Coalition's economic management credentials. The push for public funds to be spent on underwriting new coal-fired power plants which are deemed by the private sector to be uneconomically viable fails comprehension.

As the Coalition partners continue to trade jibes, policy is being drowned out by noise. We continue to be spectators to the battle for control of the Liberal Party between the Hard Right and everybody else (who it seems are all Lefties... but I guess when one is so far Right, everything else does seem Left).

ScoMo might well lose the May poll and with it, the leadership of his party. But has Tony Abbott displayed any qualities that make him deserving of a second tilt? He's right up there with K Rudd in terms of bitterness and a preparedness to undermine for personal gain. His merry dance to and fro over the Paris Climate Agreement demonstrates he is prepared to say anything for a vote, as long as it is to his own advantage.

Not a convincing display of trustworthiness in my books. And the antics of Joyce this week are on par.

Barnaby and Co's latest foray into creating instability provides nothing to show why voters in regional Australia should have any faith in them. The Member for New England is just that. He's not the rightfully elected deputy prime minister any more. Such a declaration displays an alarming ignorance of this country's Constitution... but then again he did have that citizenship oops. His response to the ecological crisis on the Darling River shows just how marginalising his attitudes are. He is quite prepared to champion the cause of regional communities at the northern end of the river system but completely disregards those regional communities further down the river.

Why is that?

While the Coalition continues to publicly attack each other, Bill Shorten could not have an easier road to The Lodge. Government infighting is sucking all the oxygen out of what should be the period we critically appraise both sides' policies leading up to the election. We should be casting an eye over Labor policies.

Instead, the electorate (and justifiably in one sense) is deep in consideration as to just how badly it should wound the Coalition. I believe that before the last Federal poll, I warned against people casting votes in anger. That could be a two-edged sword. There are a number of hard working Coalition MPs who just might be caught up unfairly in a tsunami of public anger. And that would be sad; particularly if a Shorten government ends up being as hopeless as I fear.