Policy work will shape Coalition performance

Eight days after their split, the reunification of the Liberal-National Coalition is an opportunity to foster rigorous opposition to hold the Albanese government to account. What will matter most for the Coalition in the next three years will be regaining traction by focusing on the main policy areas – economic management, energy, industrial relations and defence – necessary to build productivity and prosperity and protect national security.

The restoration of the Coalition, if it functions well, will remove what could have been a potential distraction in non-Labor ranks. The Nationals have a clear base – Australians who live outside the nation’s capital cities – and a clear set of priorities. The most important factor in restoring the relevance of the battered Liberal brand will be regaining the support of voters in the cities and suburbs who value aspiration.

Less than a month after the election, it is already clear that Australians deserve a better deal on tax, especially on bracket creep, and for Labor’s proposed tax on unrealised capital gains, based on a flawed principle, to be overturned. The long-running productivity slump that is eroding living standards needs urgent attention, as does industrial relations as militant unions such as the Transport Workers’ Union press their advantage at public expense. Ongoing rising power prices, the runaway costs and mismanagement of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, crises in the hospital sector and underperforming schools also need reform. While stating that Australia has to play its part in the global response to climate change, Sussan Ley sensibly acknowledged that this could not be “at any cost”.

Much will depend on the ability of Liberal deputy leader Ted O’Brien as opposition Treasury spokesman and James Paterson, a sharp thinker and debater, as finance spokesman to take the economic fight to Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

Mr O’Brien and Senator Paterson will be backed by senator Dave Sharma, another effective performer, as shadow assistant minister competition, charities and Treasury. Tim Wilson, who was highly effective campaigning in 2019 against Bill Shorten’s proposal to end franking credits for retired shareholders, created a blueprint for ousting teals MPs by regaining Goldstein on May 3.

As the TWU prepares to force multi-employer bargaining across the aviation sector, Mr Wilson, as opposition industrial relations spokesman, has the ability to expose the problems in Labor’s IR system and prosecute the political case against union overreach – already evident in an irresponsible push to “shut down Australian transport”. The Coalition has abandoned the IR field for too long, which is why it is also vital that he set the groundwork for a more flexible workplace system, in the interests of workers and business, that ties better pay and conditions to productivity gains.

Angus Taylor, unfortunately, did not put the Treasurer under pressure during the past three years for the latter’s heavy-spending, big-government agenda that failed to grow the productive economy. As defence spokesman, Mr Taylor, with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price in the defence industry shadow portfolio – a good fit for a Northern Territory senator – should aim to restore Coalition supremacy in national security.

In deteriorating strategic circumstances, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has raised serious concerns in a new critique of the government’s “paper ADF”. It argues “business as usual” funding in the March budget showed a disconnect between the urgency of emerging threats and the need for major new equipment.

The nation is unprepared for a near-term conflict, ASPI warns, with a hollowed-out workforce, limited munitions and lack of missile defence systems and long-range weapons. An important part of Mr Taylor’s and Senator Price’s work will be to effectively make the public case for the difficult budgetary choices necessary to bring spending up in order to lift defence preparedness to an acceptable level.

In the decimated ranks of centre-right politicians, the frontbench announced by the Opposition Leader on Wednesday faces a hard battle. Good policy development is their best path to restore voter confidence.