Government struggles through midterm choppy waters

Agriculture leaders’ confidence in Labor’s legislative agenda is eroding, as the federal government pursues a raft of policy changes.

It’s no secret that halfway through its first parliamentary term the Albanese government has not bagged the big wins it needs to campaign confidently towards the next federal election.

A Newspoll this week reported Labor’s primary vote had fallen to under its 2022 election result and the major parities were now equal on a two-party-preferred basis.

Many respondents said they were economically worse off now than two years ago.

While cost of living is clearly topical, angry voters suggest the issue has not been adequately explored by the nation’s parliamentarians – and no part of the country is feeling the pain more than the regions.

Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra, November 27, 2023. Picture: Martin Ollman

But it is becoming clearer how the HMAS Albanese will attempt to clear these choppy waters.

Insiders said the government was desperate for a clean sheet and would work fast to chip away the ugly barnacles clinging to its hull and unhook the anchors of faltering big-ticket policies.

The morphing game plan, coinciding with a cabinet meeting and a full ministry meeting last week, started with the release of an infrastructure review carving out dozens of projects to the disappointment of many regional communities.

Irrigation communities will also be watching closely this week as the federal government attempts to ram its changes to the Murray Darling Basin Plan through parliament, in the final sitting fortnight of the year.

Lower house crossbench MPs are also demanding that a vote planned on the updated industrial relations legislation be delayed. One farm leader said that, even with the changes, “the Bill is still a giant leap in the wrong direction for productivity”.

Meanwhile, the much-heralded migration review changes have been pushed back, presumably hopeful it can turn the lights off for 2022 on a positive note.

To prosecute his own case, Mr Albanese recently told The Weekly Times that childcare, housing, climate action, training and trade were key achievements so far.

However, the midterm assessment from National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke is that while Labor has worked collaboratively on some issues, “after-school detention is required to reassess priorities”.

National Farmers Federation president David Jochinke at Old Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Martin Ollman

“Agriculture is a powerhouse in the Australian economy, but the legislative agenda in front of us will cost us dearly. Economically, we are talking in the billions, but what you can’t measure with a calculator is the eroding confidence,” he said.

“(But) it’s not too late for the government to correct course.”

The biggest clue to the direction of Labor’s midterm reset can be found in it’s pre-election promises of environmental, decarbonisation, cultural and animal-welfare action.

To this end, the government last week unveiled surprise plans to amp up investments in new clean power projects, but flagged landholder compensation packages for farmers standing at the foot of a transmission tsunami.

Agriculture fears it will be wedged between Labor’s big-ticket policies and while regional voters can expect action from the government in coming months, the early signs are just don’t expect to always like it.