PM feels chill of the public

BATTERED and bruised from her encounter with mainstream Australians, Julia Gillard retreated to the solace of Canberra yesterday.

The Prime Minister's visit revealed how little Labor and the media insiders have learned about our political-media dynamic.

Facing disastrous polling, anger from the public over her broken promise and a difficult task selling a deeply compromised and unpopular policy, Gillard fronted the National Press Club.

Normally you would expect a Prime Minister to feel a sense of dread on such an occasion but this is Gillard's home ground.

For all the comfort she might draw, by seeking to play to the Canberra insiders and soak up their affirmation, Gillard is repeating the mistakes of Kevin Rudd and Mark Latham. It is not charming the gallery that counts; it is winning over the public.

The Prime Minister had spent the previous three days travelling the country and mixing with the mainstream. She had been confronted by some disappointed voters and in a community forum in Brisbane encountered this:

"Good evening, Julia. My name is Eliza and I work in higher education. My question is that, I am not sure as an ordinary Australian, whatever that means, that I can trust you anymore.

"I'm 30 years old, I'm a single female, single income, just bought my first home. My parents were flooded in the recent floods, I wasn't . . . and I'm bearing the brunt of your taxes.

"I have seen you backflip on many things, your determination that you weren't going to overthrow Kevin Rudd, you've backflipped on the carbon tax. . .

"You've even done things that in opposition you would've found abhorrent, like sending asylum-seekers to Malaysia . . . How can anyone trust you with this record? Because I don't think I can anymore."

Little wonder the Prime Minister sought the warm bosom of the press club, where she gave another speech about her carbon tax plan. When the journalists questioned her, she was not pressed on the reasons for her breach of faith. She was not asked whether her plan would slow global warming, why it was not revenue neutral, why it included some elements of "direct action" or why it couldn't wait until after the next election.

Instead, she was coaxed by a Fairfax journalist into contemplating an Australian inquiry into the media as a result of the unethical escapades of journalists in London.

Yet another questioner invited Gillard to criticise the media more broadly and she went on to suggest misinformation from the media was to blame for her carbon tax woes. When Gillard suggested the media shouldn't "write crap", she was met with laughter and applause from journalists who were there to hold her to account.

Here were the Canberra insiders, committed to their carbon tax and their enlightened view of climate change, united by their failure to understand how the mainstream could oppose such a measure. So brilliant is the government's policy, apparently, that as long as people understand it, they will support it.

This is patronising to all the Australians who have real doubts about the policy. Just maybe, some Australians understand that other countries are not acting. Perhaps they understand Australia's tax will have no material effect on climate, and some people might even think that promises are worth keeping.

Drawing warm applause from Canberra insiders does not alleviate these doubts. Gillard needs to understand that Rudd and Latham enjoyed the support of Canberra insiders. But mainstream Australians long ago developed the endearing habit of making up their own minds.