Economic promises made by Jim Chalmers and Angus Taylor will likely age poorly because no forecaster has accurately predicted the moods and whims of Donald Trump – the world’s great disrupter.
The first debate between Chalmers and Taylor, hosted by Sky News on Wednesday night, was one for the political diehards, staffers and Canberra bubble types.
Neither the Treasurer nor the opposition treasury spokesman stuffed up. The economic rivals hit the same political attack lines we’ve been hearing for weeks.
Chalmers, who loves a catchphrase, is desperate to inject himself into the May 3 election campaign.
With Anthony Albanese ascending in the polls, the Treasurer is harnessing economic volatility fuelled by Trump’s trade wars and the stockmarket crashes to elevate his campaign profile.
Chalmers used the debate to press hard on Labor’s talking points, framing Taylor and Peter Dutton as “DOGE-y sycophants” planning secret “health and education cuts”.
The stickiest points for Chalmers came when he was asked to defend Labor’s broken promise to reduce power bills by $275 and respond to external criticism that he has a glass jaw and can get a bit grumpy.
“I think everyone gets grumpy sometimes,” Chalmers declared.
Taylor, who struggles at times with delivering a sharp political sound bite, hit back at critics who claim he doesn’t work hard enough.
“There’s a lot of free advice out there,” he said.
The CVs of the two combatants, both elected to parliament at the 2013 election, are starkly different.
Chalmers is a political animal with burning ambition to lead Labor.
The 47-year-old, who replaced Craig Emerson in the Logan-based seat of Rankin in Brisbane’s southern suburbs at the age of 35, wrote his 2004 “Brawler Statesman” thesis on Paul Keating.
A career staffer and party official, Chalmers cut his teeth as long-term adviser to fellow Queenslander, mentor and former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan.
Taylor, a Rhodes scholar who studied at Oxford and Sydney universities and boasts a long private-sector career including six years at McKinsey & Co, arrived in parliament aged 47.
The biggest takeaway from the clash between two verbose competitors was the lack of courage to commit to bold, sweeping tax reform.
As the world braces for a global recession, big and small businesses are frightened of losing their competitive edge, and workers are concerned about their job security.
Chalmers, who achieved a listless draw in the debate he desperately wanted with Taylor, will no doubt pursue a rematch to prove he is Labor’s heir apparent.
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