Both sides of politics have work to do for credibility

As federal parliament breaks for a five-week winter recess there is a need for both major parties to take stock of how they are responding to the big challenges facing the nation. A fracturing of community cohesion can now be added to the long list of priority concerns that include economic resilience, energy security, national security and defence. The temptation to put politics over substance must be resisted. Rather than succumb to what editor-at-large Paul Kelly has described in Inquirer on Saturday as the age of mounting populism based on economic grievance and identity politics, leaders must find a centre for national stability. As Kelly notes, democratic electorates globally are fracturing along economic, social and religious divides; and extremes of the right and left are surging, feeding off each other’s enmity as the political centre is weakened.

In Australia, the fault lines are clearly on display. An embattled Albanese government has lost momentum at a dangerous point in its first term. The resignation this week of West Australian senator Fatima Payman is an ominous sign of potentially worse to come. Whether Senator Payman decides to form a new political party or not, she has added fire to the rise of a religious-based political movement already inflamed by events in the Middle East. This may have profound ramifications for all sides of politics and the nation. Labor is under direct threat in what has been a western Sydney stronghold, just as the teals were able to cut deep into the Liberal heartland at the last federal election on the single issue of Australia’s climate change response. The rise of a Muslim bloc will provoke a response on the conservative side as well, potentially reanimating the grievance politics over multiculturalism that erupted with the election of Pauline Hanson to federal parliament and the formation of One Nation.

The outbreak of political hostilities over what is happening in the Middle East, as Israel responds to the terrorist attack from Hamas on October 7, will not be easily settled. Labor, as a party, is conflicted on the issue of Palestine not least because it threatens the seats of some of its highest-profile ministers including Workplace Minister Tony Burke, Education Minister Jason Clare and Energy Minister Chris Bowen. But by not acting more forcefully against rising displays of anti-Semitism, the federal government has prolonged the pain Labor will endure on the issue.

The immediate cost has been the loss of clear air to deliver a message on what Labor is doing to address the cost-of-living pressures that are front and centre in voters’ minds. The economy remains the biggest immediate threat to the government’s fortunes, with inflation more entrenched than the Reserve Bank had anticipated. The hoped-for soft landing for the economy is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Higher government spending on public service numbers and wages is not helping and nor are the more restrictive work practices being imposed through new industrial relations laws. The government must also convince voters, against the evidence, that it knows how to manage the promised energy transition and essential demands for greater spending on defence.

The challenge for Peter Dutton is equally tough. The Opposition Leader has taken bold positions on nuclear energy and supermarket reforms but has yet to demonstrate that either policy rises above the politics of grievance and represents a genuine alternative. As Kelly noted this week, the Coalition so far has failed to show how it will reduce electricity prices out to 2030, how nuclear power will be cheaper, and how its “balanced” energy mix will be achieved. Kelly sets out the herculean task. It relies on Mr Dutton winning the next election and being able to persuade the Senate to repeal the nuclear ban, winning co-operation from state governments and securing approval to build upon the retired coal-fired sites. It requires the Coalition to govern long enough to advance the construction and, even if all the foregoing is improbably achieved, that Australia, from a standing start, will master the expertise to build nuclear power plants at a speed that matches world’s best practice. Meanwhile, the Coalition has strengthened its anti big-business pitch with plans to introduce laws that would allow the break-up of supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths. Details of what would be cause for divestment and what the community benefit would be have not been properly explained.

Political events unfolding globally, including rising geopolitical tensions in Europe, the Middle East and in our own region, underscore the need for clear communication with voters. A strong economy, resilient and affordable energy and strengthened community cohesion must be shared objectives. The methods to get there need to be properly considered and clearly explained.