Neck and neck, and into the home stretch

Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison. Picture: AAP

The finish line is in sight and the contenders are rounding the home turn locked together and ready for the final sprint. Anthony Albanese appears to be finishing just that little bit stronger. The bookies don’t get it wrong too often and Albo is still the favourite with no late plunge on the Coalition. Albo only has to stay on his feet to claim the winner’s prize.

There are two competing Australian dreams here and both are great stories. First, there is the picture of the perfect family living the Australian dream. The Prime Minister, his wife and two beautiful daughters living in an average house in the Shire. You know Scott would lend you the lawnmower and Jen would lend you a cup of sugar. Jen is a fully qualified nurse and is a constant source of sage advice and wisdom to her husband. Albo is the kid raised by his mother in a council flat in inner-Sydney Camperdown. From such humble beginnings he has lifted himself to a position where he is a genuine contender for the nation’s top job. There could not be two more worthy contenders.

The teals are an interesting story. They seem a bright enough bunch but I cannot wish them any success. If they get elected they will simply add to the pollution problem in the Senate, yet another mob to deal with. I reside in the electorate of Wentworth and I will place Dave Sharma, the Liberal sitting member, at No.2. Normally Labor preferences are never counted but there is a chance Labor will not take second place and Labor preferences may well be counted.

Sharma had a stellar career in the diplomatic services and is a brilliant man whose talents should have been recognised by the PM. There is no point in leaving stars on the backbench when there are some obvious duds out the front.

Sometimes this government seems to live up to the criticisms Labor makes of it. Too much of the communications effort falls on Morrison’s shoulders while some of his colleagues seem stubbornly quiet. He has been fortunate Josh Frydenberg has done so well as Treasurer and has a way of seeming benign while cutting services. I hope only harm comes to those grubs who defaced some Frydenberg posters with Nazi swastikas.

One of the reasons I am such an admirer of former LNP senator for Queensland George Brandis is that when several of his fellow Liberals were leaning towards supporting Pauline Hanson’s view of the world, Brandis stood up in the Senate and bucketed the racist tone Hanson was pursuing. By the time he had finished his speech no Liberal dared to go within a mile of her. It is of some comfort this campaign has witnessed the notable absence of racism with the exception of this disgraceful incident involving Frydenberg.

It is worth looking at what the future might hold for the loser. It is not the norm for former prime ministers to stay on the frontbench or backbench. They are supposed to disappear with grace. Finding decent employment after politics is never easy but it is easier for Liberals, who can expect their business mates to look after them. For an ex-Labor pollie the employment prospects are rather bleak.

Morrison has a marketing background to go with his political career. The problem for former PMs is they have forgotten what it is like to have a boss. I just can’t see Morrison writing toothpaste ads or coming up with the smart lines to get us to fly Virgin or Qantas. He will be after big company board seats but those boards will be assuming a Labor victory and must be wondering how prime minister Albanese will react to their decision. If Albanese were to lose you would have to wonder if he would want a second go and if the party would give him one. The rules foisted on Labor by Kevin Rudd would mean a time-consuming process would be undertaken when a quick decision is required.

No matter who wins there will be plenty of fun and games in the next few weeks. In the Labor caucus the knives are being sharpened and in the Liberals the contenders are preening and parading. Labor members realise there is not much point wearing a new suit if there is a knife sticking out the back of it.