Hints of future cost of living relief hardly the reset Labor and Anthony Albanese need

Anthony Albanese’s new year promise of more help and better times ahead for Australian households hints more at a wish, than an actual plan, to woo back public support, writes Clare Armstrong.

Anthony Albanese’s new year promise of more help and better times ahead for Australian households hints more at a wish, than an actual plan, to woo back public support.

The Prime Minister kicked off the first week of 2024 with assurances cost-of-living was Labor’s number one priority this year, revealing he had asked Treasury and Finance officials to develop “further propositions” to be considered in the lead up to the May budget.

His announcement naturally led to a question about what areas Mr Albanese would like to see cost relief proposals for, to which he had absolutely no answer.

Instead, the PM rattled off a list of existing support measures, leaving the public none the wiser about where his government might be heading this year.

If Albanese hoped a vague elusion to future assistance would prompt voters to banish all ill-feeling about last year’s back-to-back international travel, wasted referendum opportunity and soaring living costs, he is likely going to be sorely disappointed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted at cost of living relief in May, but so far there’s not detail of what’s to come. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Struggling Australians can be assured Labor will do something, for some households to come into effect sometime after the May budget.

All the specifics are for another time.

Part of Labor’s strategy is to focus attention on the strong wages growth under its leadership, particularly among lower income workers.

But most Australians would agree it is a little premature to be celebrating higher pay packets when their actual spending capacity has been doing backwards due to inflation.

Australia’s stubbornly high inflation rate also limits relief options for the government, which cannot risk making the situation worse by flooding the economy with cash handouts.

The Prime Minister has already acknowledged this, insisting the government will look to design measures that ease cost pressures without driving up inflation.

Without anything concrete to discuss, it’s no wonder the PM has already found himself being buffeted around in the tricky political headwinds of Australia’s ongoing response to the Red Sea crisis, defence force recruitment policy and whether he will see out a full term.

The first week of January is not the time to be launching major new initiatives, but so far Labor has missed the opportunity the period conveniently provides to present a revitalised front after a bruising end to 2023.

Rent and mortgage costs are putting Australian households under pressure while inflation remains stubbornly high.

While most Australians are still revelling in the Summer and unlikely to closely track politics, the voting public are entirely capable of simultaneously focusing on their holidays while picking up the general mood around the government.

It was in January last year that Opposition leader Peter Dutton launched his 15 “questions” calling for detail on the Voice to parliament proposal, forming a line of attack that would ultimately prove fatal to the referendum.

At the time, many Labor insiders shrugged off the political furore, believing most Australians were too busy enjoying their Summer to pay close attention.

Yet the lack of detail issue became a highly successful pillar of the No campaign’s attack, spurred on by the seed of doubt about the “vibe” of the proposal planted in the voting public’s psyche back in January.

The failed referendum and cost-of-living angst sent Labor into the new year down in the polls and in desperate need of a reset.

Though those close to the PM downplayed any major cabinet reshuffle late last year, there is no doubt Labor needs one.

As basic living costs like groceries remain high, Labor is due a reshuffle to bring fresh eyes to key portfolios.

Fresh eyes in a few key portfolios alone would bring a welcome revitalisation to the government.

Mr Albanese now only has a few weeks before parliament resumes, and he will soon face an important electoral test with a by-election due in the Labor-held Victorian seat of Dunkley.

Peta Murphy, who passed away in November following a lengthy battle with stage four breast cancer, held Dunkley by a relatively comfortable margin of 6.27 per cent in 2022.

But 13 interest rate rises later, a significant swing to the Coalition in the outer Melbourne mortgage-belt electorate is inevitable.

How both sides spin the by-election result will set the tone leading into the May budget.

By then, Labor will be within one year of the next election with little time to launch the types of sweeping reforms that might aid Mr Albanese’s pursuit of a second term in office.

That makes this month all the more important for the government to put forward a positive agenda able to weather a potentially bruising by-election and set Labor up for the next general election.

Many households have pushed themselves to the brink financially, likely spending the last of their reserves over the festive period, and will be looking for government support.

As higher mortgage rates and rent increases start to bite Australians will want more than vague promises of good times to come.