Enough of the personal attacks, voters need to see a vision

There are two ways of looking at the recent attempts at character assassination by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton against each other.

One is that both men are hoping that, in the childish manner of playground bullies, they can quickly and deeply wound the other with such barbs as to render them incapacitated to conduct an election campaign, and thus having done so, will then stop.

The other is that this is all they have, that attacking the personal is their best weapon at winning the political, that is the election, which must be held by May. Both are dismal conclusions.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Perth last week.Credit: Getty Images

For Albanese and Dutton to engage in mud-throwing shows an alarming lack of insight into the electorate’s mind. It’s not as if they are new to the game – both have been in politics for decades – but it illustrates a paucity of vision beyond the election cycle. Voters are not mugs. Politicians underestimate them at their peril.

In recent days Albanese has described Dutton in terms such as “cold-hearted, mean-spirited, sometimes just plain nasty ... Peter Dutton has built a career on dividing people. He’s built a career on targeting people, particularly people who are vulnerable.” Dutton has responded that Albanese is the “weakest prime minister since Federation ... The prime minister is embarking on the personal attacks because he does not have a positive story to tell about himself.”

The personal attacks by both have been constant throughout this term. This raises the question, How does this help Australians, and how does it improve their future? It doesn’t.

Of course, hectoring is not new in general. Indeed it can be argued it is a rich thread in the tapestry of parliamentary discourse. Witness Paul Keating’s many insults against his opponents.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in Melbourne on Sunday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

But outside that arena, voters need to hear two things: that there will be immediate action for immediate problems – such as cost-of-living solutions – and big ideas, a long-term agenda. In short, a boldness of vision. A reticence to offer the latter is either political cowardice or dim-sightedness.

There is no doubt the campaign has begun. In the past week, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has issued nine media releases in relation to investment in projects, mainly in Queensland. One of these was a $7.2 billion pledge to upgrade the Bruce Highway. Albanese has vowed $3 billion to “finish the NBN”.

The flurry of announcements will only increase as polling day nears, for as Albanese said when he was opposition leader, he prefers to kick with the wind in the final quarter. That may well be true for a game of football, or political ambition, but not for a country’s future. It should be self-evident that a nation is bigger than an election cycle.

The Coalition is going to the polls under the banner of “Let’s get Australia back on track”, echoing perhaps deliberately or not, Donald Trump’s slogan of Make America Great Again. Dutton’s big ticket item to this point has been to switch Australia to nuclear power. While we award points to the opposition leader for long-term thinking, the lack of detail in the establishment of seven nuclear reactors and the consequences of such a move diminishes its potency.

The malaise in fundamental economic reform now stretches back into the distance. Where once legislation such as the GST, the shedding of tariffs, and the floating of the dollar were markers of big-picture thinking, now policy is powered more like the wheels of an exercise bike, it goes round, but goes nowhere.

Last week, during his blitz of northern Australia, Albanese said: “We should have four-year fixed terms like they do in most states and territories to avoid these games.”

Yes, Prime Minister, and Opposition Leader. Or perhaps we could just stop playing these games.

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